July 2014 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Western provinces have a pressing need for temporary foreign workers, premiers say





IQALUIT, Nunavut ` Western provinces have a genuine, pressing need for skilled labour and the federal government`s recent overhaul of its temporary foreign worker program goes too far, the interim Alberta premier said Thursday.


`All of us agree that the changes are detrimental to our jurisdictions,` Dave Hancock said at the end of a brief western premiers` conference hosted in Iqaluit, in the eastern Arctic, by Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna.





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[Ally]

Industry leaders push back over 'frenzy of fear' over oil





Brian Ferguson doesn't appreciate what Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair are contributing to the energy dialogue in Canada.





It's simply for political gain, he says.





The chief executive of oilsands producer Cenovus Energy doesn't think Archbishop Desmond Tutu has aided the conversation either.








Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Millennials heed the call of BC's north





In May, Heidi De Wildt, 26, and her 27-year-old husband, Richard, decamped from Metro Vancouver, selling their townhome and moving to Prince Rupert on British Columbia's northwest coast.











While the newlyweds have relatives in Prince Rupert, the moving motivation was strictly financial.





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[Ally]

Canadians confident about real estate market





OTTAWA -- Canadians' optimism about the real estate market is at the highest level in more than six years as prices reignite.





The share of Canadians predicting higher home prices during the next six months rose to 47 per cent last week, according to polling by Bloomberg and Nanos Research Group, the highest level since the survey began in 2008. That figure has risen 10 percentage points since April.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian homes 20% overvalued says Fitch





OTTAWA - Fitch Ratings says Canada's real estate market is as much as 20 per cent overpriced and cautions the government may need to take more measures to slow down borrowing on homes.





Fitch is the second U.S. financial agency to sound the alarm on Canadian home prices in the past week, with the Morningstar research firm predicting a 30 per cent correction was possible over the next few years.





The latest warning comes as the Teranet`National Bank composite house price index for June showed prices rose 0.9 per cent from May and were up 4.4 per cent from last year.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadians most optimistic about housing since 2008





Canadians are the most optimistic about the country`s real estate market in more than six years as prices reignite.





The share of Canadians predicting higher home prices over the next six months rose to 47 percent last week, according to polling by Bloomberg and Nanos Research Group, the highest level since the survey began in 2008. That figure has risen 10 percentage points since April.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian existing home sales rise to 4-year high





Canadian existing home sales rose to the highest in more than four years in June on gains in Vancouver and Montreal, a pace realtors said may slow in coming months after a burst of buying followed a winter chill.





Sales rose 0.8 percent to 41,186 in June, the fifth straight monthly increase and the most since March 2010, the Canadian Real Estate Association said in a statement today from Ottawa. The average price rose 6.9 percent to C$413,215 ($385,138) from a year earlier on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis and sales have gained 11.2 percent over that time.





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[Ally]

How the housing market has cooled in most of Canada





While the headlines from the Canadian Real Estate Association may highlight the nearly seven per cent spike in the average price of a house over the past year, analysts say the real story is that for most of the country, the housing boom appears to be over.





"It`s not a disaster by any means, but we`re very much back to a normal or a soft market in a lot of parts of Canada," said housing analyst Ben Rabidoux, president of North Cove Advisors,





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

June home sales up 0.8% from May and 11.2% from a year ago





The Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday that sales through its Multiple Listings Service in June were up 0.8 per cent from May as sales were up in about half of the markets tracked last month with the Vancouver region and Montreal leading the way.





Compared with a year ago, sales were 11.2 per cent higher led by Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Calgary, Toronto and Hamilton-Burlington.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

'Serial disappointment' in global economy behind sluggishness here: Poloz





OTTAWA ` Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz says the economy is still not strong enough to stand on its own and will likely need the boost from super-low interest rates for longer than he thought even three months ago.





The central banker said at a news conference following release of the institution's monetary policy report and interest rate announcement Wednesday that the long-expected global recovery has been a "serial disappointment."





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

June home sales beat forecast





Sales over the Multiple Listing Service were 11.2 per cent higher than those
in June, 2013, and topped the 10-year average, pulled up by activity in Calgary,
Vancouver, Toronto and Hamilton.






The strength that the market is showing of late comes on the heels of a slump
that ensued when the winter weather was unusually frigid. Economists have mixed
opinions on whether the market is now simply recuperating or building new
momentum. Most economists had been predicting that the market, which is
generally believed to be somewhat inflated, would slowly lose steam this year.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Poloz signals rate hike to stay on back burner





Stephen Poloz`s `serial disappointment` in the global economy suggests that a Bank of Canada interest rate hike could still be as much as two years away.





The central bank governor cautioned Wednesday that despite Canada`s recent surprise surge in consumer prices, the stubborn lack of traction in global growth is delaying Canada`s recovery and will constrain inflation over the longer run.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Bank of Canada holds interest rate at 1% - again





Canada's central bank decided to keep its benchmark interest rate at one per cent today, the same level it has been at for almost four years.





The Bank of Canada announced in its latest policy decision on Wednesday that it will keep its target for the overnight rate ` the yardstick against which most consumer loans are based ` steady at one per cent.





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[Ally]

Poloz keeps simulative rates in place





The central banker said at a news conference following release of the institution`s monetary policy report and interest rate announcement Wednesday that the long-expected global recovery has been a `serial disappointment.`





And that is keeping Canada`s economy from maintaining a steady growth rate.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Millennials spending less time between jobs than other generations





TORONTO -- Millennials may be facing a tough job market, but they are the age group spending the least amount of time between jobs, according to an online jobs site.





Monster Canada says recent numbers from Statistics Canada show that he average length of unemployment for youth has levelled off since last year, with those between 15 and 24 spending only 13 weeks between jobs compared with 25 weeks for those between 45 and 64.











Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Housing market skewed by handful of hot markets





Balanced. That`s the way the head of one of Canada`s two private mortgage default insurers sees the housing market today.





A day doesn`t go buy without some commentator or some media outlet suggesting the housing market is going to crash. But Andy Charles, the chief executive of Canada Guaranty, says much of that view is based on a national average skewed by a handful of hot markets.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Freedom 55? How Canadians are shaving thousands off the cost of their mortgage





TORONTO ` A new survey says Canadians, on average, expect to be mortgage-free by age 58, one year later than in a similar poll a year ago.





But the survey, conducted for CIBC by Angus Reid, found some big discrepancies across the country.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Fewer Canadians taking action to pay down their mortgages faster




TORONTO, July 21, 2014 /CNW/ - A new CIBC (TSX: CM) (NYSE: CM) poll finds there has been a significant decrease in the number of Canadians using today's low interest rates as an opportunity to accelerate repayment of their mortgages. While over half of Canadians with mortgages (55 per cent) are taking one or more actions to pay their mortgages down sooner, a similar poll last year found that more than two-thirds (68 per cent) were taking steps to accelerate their repayments. The poll also finds Canadians with mortgages saying, on average, that they will be 58 years of age before they become mortgage-free.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

How the luckiest generation keeps making money - and spending it





They get the sweetest discounts on movies, transit and restaurant meals, but a lot of Canadian seniors hardly need them ` they`re richer than ever.





Canadians 65 and older have amassed wealth like no other age cohort before them, having been blessed enough to work in an era where generous pensions plans were still standard, where stock portfolio growth was spectacular, and with gains in housing prices that no future generation might ever see again.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian dollar lower amid tame U.S. inflation, mixed commodity prices





TORONTO - The Canadian dollar was lower Tuesday as U.S. inflation figures for June came in as expected.





The loonie was down 0.13 of a cent to 93.07 cents US, off early lows as the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index rose 0.3 per cent during June, which matched economists' expectations.





Read the full article here.