November 2013 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Canadian home prices in for a soft landing




TORONTO ` Sky high prices in the Canadian real estate market won't be climbing for much longer, says a report by global rating agency Fitch Ratings.




The agency forecast Tuesday that home prices across the country are in for a "soft landing" and will either flatten out or slightly decrease over the next five years. It estimates that current prices are overvalued by up to 26 per cent in some regions and could fall by as much as 10 per cent in some places.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Home prices will fall in next five years: Report




TORONTO ` Sky high prices in the Canadian real estate market won`t be climbing for much longer, says a report by global rating agency Fitch Ratings.




The agency forecasted Tuesday that home prices across the country are in for a `soft landing` and will either flatten out or slightly decrease over the next five years. It estimates that current prices are overvalued by up to 26 per cent in some regions and could fall by as much as 10 per cent in some places.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Spurring Whitehorse




Facing a housing crunch and a skilled-labour shortage amidst startling population growth, the Yukon capital of Whitehorse has turned to a trusted northern formula: generous incentives to get things rolling.




The city, where the population has soared 13 per cent since 2006 to more than 26,000, is dangling a $500,000 tax grant for developers who can deliver 25 to 30 units of rental housing downtown or mixed-use projects of commercial and retail in selected areas of the city.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Economy at risk as demand cools for new homes




Canada`s economy is highly vulnerable to a slowdown in home construction, according to two new reports that highlight the country`s growing dependence on booming real estate markets.




Construction now represents 7.1 per cent of Canadian economic output, a sharp increase from the 5.2 per cent in 2000, Fitch Ratings said in a report to be released Tuesday. The high level of employment and individual wealth tied to housing means that a `housing downturn could have serious consequences for the overall economy,` the ratings agency said.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Investors watch echo-boomers for real estate trends





In the City of Toronto, there are still construction cranes everywhere, after more than a decade of frantic development. More high-rise buildings are under construction there than anywhere else in North America. Most of the buildings are mixed-use condominium and retail buildings, but there are also several new office buildings underway.



It`s part of a trend being seen across Canada and around the world, and one that real estate investors are enthusiastically embracing.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Poloz says Canadian housing market not a bubble, predicts soft landing



OTTAWA - Canada's housing market is not in a bubble and not likely to suffer a sudden and sharp correction in prices unless there is another major global shock to the economy, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said Wednesday.





The central banker, testifying before the Senate banking committee on his latest economic outlook, said he believes the most likely scenario is a soft landing where home prices stabilize, although he acknowledged that an imbalance in the market and high household debt remain key risks.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Mortgage brokers say rates to stay low



HERE'S some good news for Canadian homeowners -- mortgage rates should remain at historically low levels for up to another 18 months, according to the group that represents mortgage brokers in Canada.





"The bottom line is that during the next year, renewal of mortgages is likely to result in reduced interest costs," the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals said in its Annual State of the Residential Mortgage Market in Canada report released Tuesday.







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Prices up year over year, but sales down



The actual, not seasonally adjusted, national average price for homes sold in October 2013 was $391,820, an increase of 8.5% from the same month last year. CREA said that the size of year on year average price gains continues to reflect the decline in sales activity last year in some of Canada`s larger and more expensive markets which caused the national average price to drop at that time.






Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada's great economic divide



Canada no longer knows how to sell anything to the world except oil and gas.





Okay, that`s an exaggeration, but if things keep going the way they are, it won't be for long.





StatsCan`s latest numbers on Canada`s trade balance, released Thursday, look positive on the face of it: Exports and imports both grew, and Canada`s trade deficit with the world shrank by more than half, to $435 million.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

The global rise of mass transit



As highlighted in the most recent UN-HABITAT Global Report on Human Settlements, providing high quality mass transit like metro, light rail, and bus rapid transit (BRT) is essential for enhancing the economic, social, and environmental health of cities. This blog explores current trends around the world, which indicate a resurgence of mass transit in developed countries, and a rapid expansion of BRT and metro systems in developing countries.





Many developed countries, including the United States and Canada, have experienced significant growth in mass transit throughout the past few decades ` in the U.S., public transport ridership increased by 34% from 1995 to 2012. This trend is being driven by economic and consumer choice coupled with a spike in both the number and quality of mass transit systems in operation.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Key stats from CAAMP's fall report





Amortizations are falling, rate discounts are increasing, people have flocked to fixed rates and volumes are down (following the 2012 mortgage rules).



That's a sampling of the trends highlighted in CAAMP's just-released Annual State of the Residential Mortgage Market report.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada's real estate market healthy, finds annual trends report



A highly regarded annual real estate trends report released in early November predicts that Canada`s real estate market will remain healthy in 2014 and continue to attract positive attention from domestic and international investors. It also predicts an increase in redevelopment, more intensification of urban cores, and more mixed-use projects that combine residential, commercial and office space.





Emerging Trends in Real Estate, an American publication by PwC (an advisory, accounting, audit and assurance services firm) and the Urban Land Institute, provides an outlook on real estate investment and development trends, real estate finance and capital markets, property sectors, metropolitan areas, and other real estate issues throughout the United States, Canada, and Latin America.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Nearly 1 in 5 Canadians says they'll never be able to fully retire



VANCOUVER ` Cynthia Pincombe, 61, got her first job in retail about three years ago.





She has a pension from 30 years as a registered nurse, but needed a little more for extras, so she applied for a job at Sears.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Number of Canadians migrating between provinces at record high



OTTAWA ` Canadians are on the move and heading West in massive numbers in the quest for high-paying jobs and low taxes, a Bank of Montreal report suggests.





The bank says in a new analysis that inter-provincial migration hit the highest level in almost a quarter of century in the past year, with the population flow to oil-rich Alberta surging to more than 50,000 people during the 12-month span ending June 30, the highest on record.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Pension problems waiting to bite



That massive tidal wave of humanity known as the baby boomers have yet another problem facing them, and it`s not their health ` it`s their retirement.





The nation`s business and financial experts, such as the National Post`s Deirdre McMurdy are abuzz with warnings of the critical financial issue facing Canadians looking to retire. It seems those Canadians want to retire, but have little or nothing to retire on.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Solutions to the inevitable real estate paper storm



Once you begin down the road of investing in real estate, you open up whole new realm of paper flow. Like any business, no matter how much you attempt to do on-line, there is the inevitable paper work that needs to be kept on top of. Get behind on it, and you lose money on taxes and fees.





In fact, I have heard of some investors who stop building their portfolio because the properties they have already create more paperwork than they can handle. What that tells me is that they don`t have a simple (and efficient) system to control every piece of paper they receive.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

30-year mortgages remain a focus for OFSI



Canada`s banking regulator is still monitoring 30-year mortgages, the head of Canada`s financial regulator told a conference of mortgage brokers in Toronto on Monday.





In recent years there has been a shift in the marketplace, with lenders offering more 30-year amortizations, and that`s something that the regulator is studying, Julie Dickson, the head of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Oil sands debate not about good vs. evil





I`m always amazed by the propaganda and parochialism that swamp our debates over energy development ` especially when it comes to the oil sands, or Keystone. Too many people frame the issues as a medieval morality play ` as if deciding to develop our abundant natural resources and send them to market is a pact with the devil.







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

BoC chief says Canadian housing market not in a bubble



OTTAWA ` Canada`s housing market is not in a bubble and not likely to suffer a sudden and sharp correction in prices unless there is another major global shock to the economy, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said this week.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Canada's population continues to flow westward



Brighter job prospects in Alberta and more challenging ones in the eastern side of the country are altering the country`s population flows.





Alberta saw another year of above-average population growth in 2012-13, driven by record levels of net international migration and interprovincial migration, Monday`s preliminary population estimate from Statistics Canada shows.





Read the full article here.