The number of housing units under construction in the Hamilton census area will "stabilize" near 2,400 each year in 2016 and 2017, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecasted in new numbers released Monday.

The CMHC expects rising prices to make attached housing, rather than detached homes, more attractive to buyers and so economists there expect the number of multi-unit projects to counteract a forecasted drop in detached home construction in 2017.

It also predicts the record-breaking numbers of existing homes selling will drop over the next couple of years, from this year's projected 15,000 units to 14,000 units in 2016 and 13,600 in 2017.

In another report, the Conference Board of Canada pegged Hamilton among the top cities in the country for continued rising home prices, alongside the Fraser Valley, Toronto, Oshawa, and Sherbrooke. The five metropolitan areas are expected to see prices rise at least 7 per cent year-over-year.

The board calls Hamilton a "balanced" market but it's near the top of the balanced range for the city, meaning the market is better for sellers than it is for buyers.