As another sign of Canada’s cooling real estate market, home renovations are in a significant decline. Recent Bank of Canada data show total renovation debt held by banks is down again for the last quarter of 2018. The most recent high for total renovation debt, $3,610,000, came in the second quarter of 2016, and the figures have declined almost 18% since then.
According to Better Dwelling, a web magazine tracking Canadian real estate trends, “in many markets, the end of a renovation boom is also a sign of the end of the business cycle. In Canada, the declines typically line up with recessions and oil patch trouble.”
As well, slowdown in the renovation market will have many knock-on effects for related businesses such as contractors and building trades.