The Canadian Real Estate Association expects the average price of a home to post an annual increase of 7.6 percent in 2022.

However, this could be a “somewhat conservative forecast given what the handoff from 2021 to 2022 is looking like”.

In a new forecast, CREA noted that as of November 2021, the national average price was already about $721,000.

With “supply continuing to hit fresh lows every day”, the average price is anticipated to hit $739,500 in 2022.

Again, that may be the low end of what the market may see next year.

As for 2021, CREA expects the year to end with the average price of a Canadian home rising to $687,500 or 21.2 percent compared to 2020.

"This historically large increase reflects the unprecedented imbalance of housing supply and demand, with the number of months of inventory nationally remaining close to two throughout 2021," CREA stated in its forecast.

The association noted that the long-term average for this measure is "more than five months".

The anticipated increase in prices next year will only exacerbate the housing situation in Canada.

A recent RBC Economics report indicated that housing affordability has reached its “worst level in 31 years”.

The RBC report noted that the cost of owning a home has increased in the third quarter of 2021 to 47.5 percent of median pre-tax household income.

The situation is worse in expensive metropolitan areas like Vancouver, where housing cost is at 64.3 percent.

Toronto follows with 61.9 percent; Montreal, 40.7 percent; Ottawa, 40 percent; Calgary, 32.8 percent; and Edmonton, 28.5 percent.