Canadian economy expected to be under the weather this winter
The global economy is going south for the winter and likely longer, taking the Canadian and virtually all provincial economies with it, Scotiabank warned Wednesday.
The comments come amid further evidence a recession here is underway and deepening, including a steeper-than-expected drop in sales by wholesalers and increased pessimism among small-business owners.
Too soon to use policy tools to shore up economy: Carney
Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says it is "entirely premature" to talk about implementing in this country the kinds of unorthodox policy tools the Federal Reserve Board is preparing to wield after the U.S. central bank cut its key interest rate this week to virtually zero.
Reiterating that Canada has entered a recession that will persist into next year, Carney admitted in a noon-hour speech that the bank does "contingency planning" and has looked at these issues "for decades."
Spain`s super-rich will emerge as the key investors in its troubled property sector next year and would do well to take up positions in the office market, the head of consultants Cushman & Wakefield said.
Roger Cooke, Cushman`s managing partner in Spain, said traditional investors like German property funds had the money but not the ability to open new funds in Spain, while private-equity buyers were still waiting on the sidelines to swoop on distressed assets
Now is a good time to buy Canadian dollars because the country`s economic picture is less dire than in other Group of 10 industrialized nations, Goldman Sachs said yesterday.
The report by the U.S.-based bank comes after the Canadian currency has tumbled 17 per cent against the U.S. dollar this year and has been little changed over the past month even as other currencies have strengthened.
"We think the Canadian dollar ... has potential to play catch-up" as the U.S. currency sees broad declines, Goldman said in a note to clients.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. officials ignored warnings from senior Finance Department and Bank of Canada officials during the past two years that its active business in high-risk mortgage insurance could overburden consumers.
According to sources familiar with the discussions, CMHC executives did not heed the warnings and continued to underwrite larger volumes of insurance policies for risky home loans with 40-year amortizations and minimal down payments.
TORONTO — Mark Carney is pointing a finger at the country`s big banks for hoarding capital against a rainy day instead of doling out more loans, a choice the Governor of the Bank of Canada says is damaging the economy. The public admonishment is an unusual move for a central bank governor, but Mr. Carney has recently decided to advocate more publicly for certain government policies and bank behaviours.
While he has a direct line of communication with the chief executives of the big banks, his message hasn`t been embraced. The banks have been racing to bolster their capital cushion, increasing the amount of money they hold to protect against potential loan losses.
Toll roads, user fees, tax hikes are the new reality of infrastructure
Municipal toll roads, user fees and tax hikes are suddenly emerging as a new reality for many cash-strapped cities and communities across the country that are struggling to maintain crumbling infrastructure while balancing their annual budgets.
While the explosion of new fees and taxes have many local residents grumbling, the elected municipal leaders say they share the frustration when they see their pleas for help fall on deaf ears at the other levels of government.
Canada will run deficits totalling between$20 billion and$30 billion over four years, federal officials conceded Thursday, the same day Ottawa appointed an 11-member expert committee -- including two Calgarians -- to advise it on the budget and economy.
Not only is the country going to post a large accumulated deficit in the next few years, it will likely be bigger than predicted in a Finance Department document released earlier this week, a senior government official told Canwest News Service on Thursday.
Despite the loonie`s drop yesterday the Canuck buck could end a dismal year on an upswing and get off to a strong start in 2009, buoyed by a domestic economy that appears stronger than its peers, observers say.
While Canada has joined many European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, in slashing interest rates to fend off the deepest recession in decades, its economy is considered by many to be in better shape than most.
Mortgage facts
U. S. firms didn`t hurt the Canadian mortgage market -- they helped it
Proving once again there`s nothing so misguided as a Globe and Mail special investigation, this week the newspaper treated readers to two front-page efforts on the unholy dangers of competition in the mortgage insurance business. Of course wild misinformation is nothing new for the catastrophists at the Globe. This is the paper that tried to create mass panic over soup cans.
More than 11 million people pass throughCancun, Mexico, each year, making it one of the country`s busiest destinations. But just a three-hour drive away from that tourist hotspot is the rich cultural city of Merida, a former capital of the ancient Mesoamerica world. And tucked in amongst the Mayan temples and white sandy beaches of Merida is the new luxury development Flamingo Lakes Resort, which has villas starting from $140,000.
OTTAWA -- Canada, like the rest of the world, faces strong economic headwinds in the coming year, the country`s largest business group says in a forecast released Monday.
But it`s uncertain just how bad those headwinds will be, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce added.
"As the dramatic changes to the global economy in the latter part of 2008 demonstrate, the severity and duration of the recession are very difficult to predict," it said.
Canadian families pay more in personal taxes than they do on either shelter or food, and spend more on their pets than they do on child care.
Those are among the revelations in Statistics Canada`s latest annual report on household expenditures. Despite the tax-cut boasts of governments, Canadian families paid six per cent more on average in personal income taxes last year, which remained the single largest expense for families, even ahead of keeping a roof over their heads.
Fundamentals still good for Canada`s commercial real estate, analysts say
The Canadian real estate income trust sector has never been hit harder than it was in 2008, but for the trio of analysts at Canaccord Adams who cover the industry, there`s hope for a turnaround next year.
U. K. commercial properties, which have been falling since a peak in mid-2007, could lose up to another 16% in value in 2009 as the global economic downturn worsens, a Reuters survey showed.
That is about half the near 30% capital-value plunge likely to be seen in 2008, as some analysts forecast gradually loosening credit market conditions.
Office space in Canada`s major cities is still relatively tight, putting the market in good shape to weather the recession, though Calgary and Toronto face more challenging times than others, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Canadian arm of a global real-estate firm.
"Canada`s office market is well positioned going into the projected recession, thanks to its strong performance during recent years that drove vacancy rates down to historically low levels and continued to drive rents higher through 2008," said Colliers International in Canada, in its report on office space in six major Canadian cities -- Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Housing price decline expected to be `significant`
Canada`s housing market made skeptics proud and put eternal optimists to shame in 2008 as the favour turned quickly to buyers, after years of smug sellers having the upper hand.
The shock was how quickly the tables turned.
House prices across Canada have dropped 11 per cent, since hitting a peak of $316,896 in May 2008, to $280,880 in November, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
The drop is weighed heavily by cities such as Vancouver, Canada`s most expensive housing market, where prices have also fallen almost 13 per cent since May.
CALGARY -- WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSX:WJA) and Southwest Airlines have finalized their code-sharing agreement, and the two airlines expect to be selling tickets on one another`s routes by late 2009.
WestJet and Dallas-based Southwest had announced a memorandum of understanding in July.
If you want to help out the budget by renting your little bit of bucolic paradise, there are three ways to do it.
If you buy a condominium, it`s likely there will be an on-site rental program. Simply sign up, make a list of when the property is available for rent and you will receive a cheque, either monthly or quarterly, for revenue less expenses and a management fee.
