Home-market `correction is in full swing`: construction, sales, prices down

[MonteDobson]

Home-market `correction is in full swing`: construction, sales, prices down

Brenda Bouw, THE CANADIAN PRESS
February 09, 2009

There are more signs Canada`s housing market is facing a significant slowdown after a double-digit percentage drop in home construction starts last month and a forecast that sales and prices will slide this year.

As the recession digs in and the unemployment rate rises, economists say nervous consumers are standing still when it comes to buying and selling real estate.

The results are increasing numbers of dwellings on the market, dropping prices and a slowdown in construction.

"The Canadian housing correction is in full swing, having a wide impact across the country," BMO Capital Markets economist Robert Kavcic commented Monday.

http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/...mentid=17641947

 

[GarthChapman]

Slowing starts is good news for the market - it helps to absorb unsold inventory more quickly.

In Calgary I am hearing from Realtors and Mortgage Agents that they are began to get busy beginning the last half of January, as normally is the case. Sales in the last half of January in Calgary were about 80% of sales for the month in total - and that is much larger than normal. We are hearing that people interested in buying have recognized that "hey, I haven`t lost MY job", and "I think maybe interest rates may be close to bottoming out."