Real estate boards across the country are releasing their January numbers and they seem to be telling a story of pain and gain.

Government efforts to cool the market appear to be working in the Greater Vancouver Area.  Sales, for all housing types continued to drop, falling nearly 40% compared to January 2016.  The MLS composite benchmark price also continued to slide, dipping 0.2% compared to last January.  Prices are off nearly 4% in the past six months.

That’s the pain.  On the gain side Victoria and Toronto may be capitalizing on Vancouver’s loss.   Victoria saw its benchmark price jump more than 24% compared to last January.  Sales slipped 11% on a 39% drop in inventory.  In Toronto, sales jumped nearly 12%, led by condos.  The composite benchmark price increased by almost 22% year over year.

Montreal has not released its January numbers yet but may also be benefiting from the Vancouver exodus.  Based on 2016’s tallies the real estate board sees another year of sales growth and moderate price increases.  Last year saw sales, led by condos, climb by between 8% and 4%.  The average price of all types of housing rose about 3%, in line with inflation.