March 2013 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Carney shifts from housing bubble to sluggish growth




Mark Carney can taste victory in his long-running battle against a housing bubble.




For the first time in a year, the Bank of Canada on Wednesday signalled comfort that Canadians are getting the message about taking on too much mortgage debt, a shift in behaviour that will allow policy makers to keep short-term interest rates low amid signs of deteriorating growth.



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[Ally]

Slide of the Canadian loonie gains momentum




A darker trade outlook, softer housing market and a more dovish central bank have caught up to the dollar, as investors and currency speculators look elsewhere for greener pastures.




The once high-flying loonie has been losing ground to most major currencies since last autumn, but the gap has widened in recent weeks. The dollar fell to 97.03 cents (U.S.) ` close to its lowest level in eight months ` after the Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1 per cent Wednesday and signalled that considerable monetary stimulus `will likely remain appropriate for a period of time` in response to weaker economic growth and in light of inflation remaining tame.


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[Ally]

Valuable fraud prevention tips for homebuyers and homeowners




March is Fraud Prevention Month. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has consistently been a leader in the fight against mortgage fraud and offers the following tips to protect yourself against becoming a victim of mortgage fraud.

Misrepresentation of Information

Mortgage fraud occurs when someone deliberately misrepresents information in order to obtain mortgage financing that would not have been granted if the truth had been known. This can include:

• Misstating one`s position or inflating one`s income or length of service at theirjob;
• Misstating employment status (ie. salaried/full time versus contract, part time, hourly or commission-based or self-employed);
• Misrepresenting the amount and/or source of the down payment;
• Purchasing a rental property and misrepresenting it as owner-occupied;
  Not disclosing existing mortgage and/or debt obligations;
  Misrepresenting property details or omitting information in order to Inflate the property value;
  Adding co-borrowers who will not be residing in the home and do not intend to take responsibility for the mortgage.

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[Ally]

Employment surges on both sides of border




OTTAWA ` Canada`s economy showed signs it may be ready to bust out of its half-year funk by churning out a surprisingly strong 50,700 new jobs in February, most of them full-time, in the private sector and in Ontario.




The outsized gain was enough to keep the unemployment rate at the four year low of 7.0 per cent despite the fact over 60,000 Canadians joined the labour force in the month, another good signal for the economy.





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[Ally]

Relax, BMO's 2.99% mortgage won't spark a housing crisis





Angst over mortgages

I`m no apologist for the banks, but the angst over Bank of Montreal`s cut-rate mortgage seems over the top.




Politicians of every stripe are putting up a rare united front in criticizing the bank for cutting its five-year, fixed-rate mortgage by 10 basis points.








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[Ally]

How the 226 square foot condo is reshaping our public space




I once survived for 18 months in a 107-square-foot garret in St. Germain des PrÃs. My Parisian memories are not of a claustrophobic room, but rather of a private refuge made livable by a city with great street life and public design. From cafÃs to cathedrals, parks to piscines municipales, the spaces outside my room were as much a part of my life as the space within.





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[Ally]

Flaherty warns of significant hit to federal revenue




Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is warning that slower economic growth will deliver a `significant` hit to federal revenues, but he won`t back down from the Conservative government`s pledge to balance the books by 2015.




On Friday, economists who met with Mr. Flaherty in Ottawa said they had lowered their forecasts for economic growth since they last met with the Finance Minister, in November. The government did not release their average forecast, which will underpin the 2013 federal budget numbers. However, several economists said they are now projecting 2013 GDP growth will be less than 2 per cent ` down significantly from last March, when the average forecast was for 2.4 per cent real GDP growth in 2013 and 2.4 per cent in 2014.



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[Ally]

Canadian housing starts jump in February




A big month-to-month jump in multi-unit housing construction is being credited with a higher rate of Canadian housing starts in February.




Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says its seasonally adjusted rate of housing starts rose to 180,719 units in February, up from 158,998 in January.




The main reason for the increase in housing construction was an 18.4 per cent rise in urban starts, led by a 27.7 per cent increase in multiple-unit dwellings such as condos and apartments.





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[Ally]

Older workers lift Canada's job numbers, smashing expectations




OTTAWA ` Sometimes age and experience can pay off.




In Canada, as in many other countries, an aging population can face financial uncertainty as it heads toward retirement.




But for now, older workers are in big demand in the workplace.





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[Ally]

February unemployment rates





OTTAWA - The national unemployment rate was 7.0 per cent in February. Statistics Canada also released seasonally adjusted, three-month moving average unemployment rates for major cities but cautions the figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples. (Previous month in brackets.)



See the full list here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian dollar inches higher as February job creation blows past expectations




The loonie was up 0.03 of a cent to 97.17 cents US as Statistics Canada reported that the economy created 50,700 jobs. That was far higher than the approximately 8,000 jobs that economists had expected.




Canada`s unemployment rate stayed steady at seven per cent as more people entered the workforce in a search for jobs, but that was better than the slight increase to 7.1 per cent that economists had expected.





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[Ally]

February 2013 Housing starts in Canada






OTTAWA, ONTARIO`(Marketwire ` March 8, 2013) - Housing starts in Canada were trending at 195,087 units in February, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)[sup]1[/sup] of housing starts.




`The trend in total housing starts continued to moderate in February. Moderation in economic fundamentals in the second half of 2012 has led to more modest housing demand and builders are adjusting accordingly,` said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC. `Monthly SAAR housing starts moved closer to the six month trend in February, up from January levels, due to a rebound in Ontario and Quebec multi-family starts.`





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[Ally]

Canada housing starts climb in February




TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian housing starts climbed in February as multi-family construction rebounded in Ontario and Quebec, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp said on Friday in a report that nevertheless showed the housing market is continuing to moderate.




The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts was 180,719 units in February, up from 158,998 in January. The January figure was revised down from the 160,577 units reported previously.





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[Ally]

The most frequently used words on house listings show us little about our priorities




Your home may very well be beautiful, but if you describe it as such to potential buyers, you`re hardly being original.




According to data compiled by the online real estate listings portal Point2Homes, `hardwood floors` is the most common word or short phrase used in Canadian real estate listings, followed by `beautiful` and `stainless steel appliances.` (In the graphic above, the larger the word appears, the more often it shows up in listings.)





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[Ally]

Economy surprises with 51,000 new jobs




Canada created 51,000 new jobs in February, blowing past expectations thanks to an increase in full-time work.




Statistics Canada reported that the unemployment rate remained steady at seven per cent during the month. That's because the number of new jobs was almost the same as the number of new job-seekers.





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[Ally]

Canada's reckless banks inflate house price bubble




BMO's reckless move was preceded last January with its self-serving report prepared by free market diva Shelley Cooper suggesting that "alarms about Canada's housing market by international observers, from the International Monetary Fund to The Economist magazine, are exaggerated or simplistic." Referring to Canada's housing as "somewhat pricey," the gamblers at BMO felt no compunction last week in risking another mortgage war. Did I say gambling? Well, yes, gambling -- with taxpayers' dollars and the future of the Canadian economy. Virtually every housing loan is insured by you and me with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) holding $600 billion of loans it has guaranteed.





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[Ally]

7 reasons to invest in Canada now




The U.S. stock market, as measured by the Dow Jones industrial average, is back. The American market was counted down and out after its housing market tumbled, its financial system imploded, the European Union blow-up and the divided U.S. Congress threw a fiscal hissy-fit.




Despite these hurdles, the American stock market bounced back stronger than ever with the Dow breaking record highs set five and a half years ago. The broader S&P 500 stock index is slightly below the record it set in October of 2007.





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[Ally]

Moody's: Economic shock could knock Canadian housing prices down 44%







OTTAWA ` Canada`s real estate bonanza of the past decade has come to end and the long-term trend as one of the most profitable places to invest is also not encouraging, a new research paper from the TD Bank argues.






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[Ally]

Canadian house prices to remain flat for 10 years: TD




Canada's real estate bonanza of the past decade has come to end and the long-term trend as one of the most profitable places to invest is also not encouraging, a new research paper from the TD Bank argues.


The "special report" from one of Canada's largest banks makes the case that gains in housing prices have been exceptionally strong over the last 10 years, even when accounting for a sharp drop during the 2008-09 recession. But now is the time for a bit of a payback.






Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Real estate boom over: Bank report




OTTAWA -- Canada's real estate bonanza of the past decade has come to an end and the long-term trend as one of the most profitable places to invest is also not encouraging, a new research paper from the TD Bank argues.




The "special report" from one of Canada's largest banks makes the case that gains in housing prices have been exceptionally strong over the last 10 years, even when accounting for a sharp drop during the 2008-09 recession. But now is the time for a bit of a payback.





Read the full article here.