Turnover in resale markets dropped by about 40 per cent from their peaks, while housing starts declined to 118,500, well below the estimated sustainable long-run average of about 175,000. However, the housing correction here was not nearly as destructive as the collapse of the U.S. housing market.
This reflects, in part, the fact that the rise in housing prices prior to the crisis was not as sharp in Canada as it was in the United States. Between 2000 and 2006, U.S. house prices appreciated by nearly twice as much as Canadian house prices. That said, Canadian house prices continued to appreciate for a longer period 1.