Canada's hot housing market looks set to heat up even more this spring as would-be buyers race to avoid new mortgage rules, the arrival of harmonised sales tax regimes in two of the most expensive markets, and anticipated interest rate rises.

Analysts said these factors would draw out Canadians eager to avoid extra thousands of dollars in costs, providing a near-term boost to a market that, in sharp contrast to the United States, saw sales and prices soar last year.

"There's a couple of months between the implementation date [of mortgage insurance rules] and now," Tim Hockey, the chief executive of TD Canada Trust, said. "And there's also a little bit of a [harmonised sales tax] effect. Both of those probably have a ... pull-forward effect.

South China Morning Post