August 2011 Ontario Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Toronto wary of condo correction






TORONTO`A condominium-building boom is lifting Canada's largest city into the same stratosphere as London, Sydney, Vancouver and Miami, but deepening the worries about a potential tumble.




Buyers snapped up 1,986 condominiums in Toronto in July, up 28% from a year earlier, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Average prices have surged 8% to 9% a year for the past five years, climbing to 304,000 Canadian dollars (US$306,900).




Rows of sparkling condo towers line the shores of Lake Ontario, while cranes dot the inland skyline near the tony neighborhood of Yorkville, a magnet for visiting pop-music and Hollywood celebrities. In May, a local real-estate developer announced that an undisclosed foreign buyer paid a record C$28 million for a sprawling unit in a tower of luxury condominiums anchored by a Four Seasons Hotel.





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[Ally]

Cambridge home sales strong in July



Residential sales activity recorded through the MLSÂ System of the Real Estate Board of Cambridge Inc. was up in July 2011 compared to a year earlier.








According to the Board`s statistics, home sales numbered 264 units in July, up 11 per cent from levels reported in the same month last year.









Some 1,788 homes have traded hands through the Board`s MLSÂ System on a year-to-date basis, up two per cent from levels in the first seven months of 2010 and the highest level since 2007. It also stands above the five and ten year averages for activity in the first seven months of the year.





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[Ally]

World's 50 safest banks in 2011




NEW YORK, August 18, 2011 ` Bank stability is an ever-more pressing concern for the world`s corporations and investors. It is within this context that Global Finance announces it`s 20th Annual Ranking of the World`s 50 Safest Banks.





The sovereign debt crisis is still raging in Europe and renewed fears of contagion from southern European countries is affecting banking and market outlooks throughout Europe.Global political instability is also in the spotlight`from the upheavals in the Middle East and Africa to the US debt downgrade by Standard & Poor`s, companies are watching closely to see how these events are affecting their counterparties.





With more than 40 of the top 50 banks from last year once again making the list, the Global Finance ranking shows that most of the top echelon of banks are truly worthy of the moniker World`s Safest Bank. Winners were selected through an evaluation of long-term credit ratings`from Moody`s, Standard & Poor`s and Fitch`and total assets of the 500 largest banks worldwide.





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