February 2013 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Homeowners stung by botched rent to own scheme




A Calgary couple is warning home sellers to beware of real estate rent to own schemes, where unlicensed agents offer to find buyers to rent or lease to own homes.




`It sounded exactly like what we were looking for,` said homeowner Maxine Henry. `But it was awful, and you feel awful for having been duped into such a scheme.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

New housing numbers point to soft landing




MONTREAL ` For more than a year, there have been two competing narratives about the future path of Canada`s high-flying housing market: total collapse and moderate decline. The moderates, if we can call them that, still seem to me to have the better argument, especially when you consider the unexpectedly upbeat housing resale figures last month.




Friday`s report from the Canadian Real Estate Association demonstrates that national home sales continue to be significantly lower than those of a year ago, but that virtually all of this decline happened abruptly last August, reflecting a tough squeeze on mortgage-lending conditions in July by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Since then, however, there`s been no further month-to-month downtrend, notes CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Belt tightening on the way for provinces




Doug Horner, Alberta`s finance minister, is on the record saying there will be no tax increases and no new sales tax in the province`s March 7 budget.




However, he admits this budget is `not going to be fun.` No kidding. Alberta oil has been selling at about $42 per barrel less than U.S. crude, and that yawning gap is going to take a big bite out of the government`s royalties.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Are we set for an interest rate cut?




The day will come when the bonds and bond funds that did so well in recent years become dead weight in a portfolio.




But that day`s not here yet, and it may be a while in coming. This is the conclusion to be drawn from a note issued recently by Capital Economics, an analysis firm that has for a while taken a bearish view on the Canadian economy. Capital said there are good reasons to expect somewhat stronger economic growth early in 2013, including expanding production in the energy sector. Working against the economy are a pair of factors - weak global economic growth and the potential for a severe housing market correction.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Retirees set to outnumber Canada's youth for the first time




For as long as statistics have been kept in this country, the number of young people entering the work force has always exceeded the number nearing retirement.




Not any more.




At some point this year, the number of 15- to 24-year-olds will slip below the number of 55- to 64-year-olds for the first time, according to Statscan`s demography division. That represents a major symbolic threshold for a society just beginning the slide from a demographic golden age.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Some California oil fields dirtier than tar sands crude




SAN FRANCISCO ` Environmentalists often call oil from Canada's tar sands the dirtiest fuel on Earth because the complex process of extracting it spews huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the air.




But by that standard, some of the crude oil pumped in California is just as dirty. In a few cases, it's even worse.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Keystone XL pipeline could be central to Obama's climate legacy





The fate of a $7-billion pipeline project that will see oil transported from Alberta to refineries south of the border is in the hands of the U.S. President, with environmentalists pegging his decision as one that will define Barack Obama`s legacy.




A day after thousands of protesters descended on Washington to protest the Keystone XL pipeline, one environmental policy expert says Obama has much at stake with whatever decision he makes.




Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Carney says more adjustment to come in housing prices




The correction underway in Canadian house prices is likely to persist for another two years, warns Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney.




`We`ve seen the adjustment in the housing market. We think there`s a bit more to come over the next couple of years,` Mr. Carney told CTV`s Question Period in an interview broadcast Sunday.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada moving to better economic mix: Carney





OTTAWA`Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says Canada`s economy is in the midst of what he believes will be a successful transition from over-dependence on borrowing to production that will include a softer housing market but stronger exports.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Cooling housing market part of economic transition




Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says Canada's economy is in the midst of what he believes will be a successful transition from over-dependence on borrowing to production that will include a softer housing market but stronger exports.




Canada's once-hot housing market has already begun to cool as Canadians temper their appetite for debt, Carney said in a television interview broadcast Sunday, adding the market likely has a couple of more years of adjustment.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

REITs rest on solid foundation



Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate equities have made a Lazarus-like recovery since the financial crisis and generated strong returns, thanks to low borrowing costs and a healthy supply-demand environment for properties.





Last year, the median return for mutual funds in the real estate equity category was 21%. Over the last three years, the annualized return was 9.1%.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian home prices lose steam




Canadian home price increases decelerated for the ninth month in a row in January as two-thirds of local markets saw home sales decline compared to a year ago, according to a report from the Canadian Real Estate Association.




CREA is the Canadian equivalent to the National Association of Realtors. Nationally, Canadian home prices rose 3.1 percent year over year last month, according to CREA's multiple listing service-based home price index. That's the smallest gain since April 2011, CREA said.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Quebec, New Brunswick give oil pipelines a closer look





The premiers of Quebec and New Brunswick agreed Monday to create a working group to weigh the risks of allowing oilsands crude to be piped across their provinces.




The get-together between Quebec's Pauline Marois and New Brunswick's David Alward came at a critical time for Alberta's oil industry, which is trying to find ways to get its bitumen to international markets.




Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Carney welcomes real estate slow down




Canada's once-hot housing market has already begun to cool as Canadians temper their appetite for debt, Carney said in a television interview broadcast Sunday, adding the market likely has a couple of more years of adjustment.




But while that will dampen growth, Carney said he believes business investment and the export sector will pick up the slack - and that the end result will be a healthier Canadian economy.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Fewer homes sold last month than January 2012, but prices up 2%




The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold by its members last month was down 5.2 per cent from January 2012, although about half of the country's local markets saw an improvement from December.




The January national average sales price compiled by the industry group was $354,754, up two per cent from a year.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian house prices slip for fifth month in a row



Home prices in Canada slipped again in January from December, marking the fifth consecutive month of easing.





Prices dipped 0.3 per cent on the month, and climbed 2.7 per cent from a year earlier, but that,

according to the Teranet-National Bank house price index, was the smallest annual increase since





November of 2009.Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Move up purchasers to increase their home ownership stake in 2013





Mississauga, ON (February 21, 2013) -- Against a backdrop of strong equity gains and lower interest rates, move-up buyers are once again set to ramp up their role in major Canadian housing markets, according to a report released today by RE/MAX







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canadian unretirement index





The Sun Life Canadian Unretirement` Index measures how we view retirement and how we feel about our plans to get there. Now in its fifth year, it has been a measure of how retirement ` or unretirement in many cases ` is changing across this country.







Read the full report here.

 

[Ally]

Slow U.S. recovery hampering Canadian growth




OTTAWA ` Don`t count on North America getting its economic mojo back any time soon.




In fact, the slow recovery in the U.S. from the `Great Recession` will continue to hamper renewed expansion in Canada as well, the Bank of Canada warned Thursday.




The U.S. economy is likely to remain on a moderate growth path `for years to come,` the central bank said in its quarterly review of global economic issues.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

China Canada's number 2 trade partner




China has surpassed Britain as Canada`s No. 2 export destination, a milestone in the inevitable shift from the stagnant Old World to faster-growing emerging markets.




Canadian goods exports to China surged 15 per cent last year to $19.3-billion, paced by a near-doubling of canola seed and canola oil shipments, according to newly tabulated government trade figures.



Read the full article here.