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Wealth
The Big Take

How Bad Will Housing Get? The Chill Gripping a Once-Hot Market Offers a Test

As Canadians struggle with soaring interest rates, the next few months hold clues on whether there will be a surge in forced sellers. 

Homes and housing construction in Colwood, British Columbia, Canada, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Canada is scheduled to release gross domestic product (GDP) figures on July 29.
Homes and housing construction in Colwood, British Columbia, Canada, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022. Canada is scheduled to release gross domestic product (GDP) figures on July 29.Photographer: James MacDonald/Bloomberg

For the past 25 years, Canada has been in the grip of the world’s biggest housing boom, a near unbroken run of price appreciation unparalleled among its developed peers. 

Now it’s over, and pain is starting to spread.