Royal LePage boosts 2023 home price forecast as activity picks up sooner than expected

An earlier-than-expected boost in activity in Canada’s major housing markets is leading real estate firm Royal LePage to raise its forecast for home price gains in 2023.

The real estate firm’s first quarter 2023 house price survey and market forecast, released April 13, projects the aggregate price of a home will be 4.5 per cent higher in the fourth quarter of 2023 than in the final quarter of 2022, well up from the previous forecast of a modest one per cent decrease.

“The prices are rising faster than they should be, simply because the number of homes available for sale is so restricted with demand rising,” Royal LePage chief executive Phil Soper said in an interview.

This bump is “quite a change” in just three months since the beginning of 2023, Soper said, adding that recovery has been stronger for a few reasons, including steady interest rates and stronger-than-anticipated employment rates.