Last month, Canadian housing starts fell to their lowest level since 2001. New home starts fell 11 percent in January to 153,500 units on an annualized basis, the fifth straight decline, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said today from Ottawa.
“Canada’s homebuilders are aggressively pulling in their horns on worries of a supply glut in a deteriorating economy,” Derek Holt, an economist at Scotia Capital in Toronto, wrote in a note to clients. Potential buyers of new homes are being discoura... Read Full Story
Source: Globe and Mail
It was two years ago in May that a good friend’s father died. William always had a sense of humour, which the family experienced once again when they read his will. He left his children a few things, including some advice. Their inheritance was not to be spent on “slow horses and fast women, and only a very small amount on booze.” And then there was the legacy he chose to leave to the “Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals.”... Read Full Story
Source: Economist
Vancouver remains the most liveable city; Harare is still intolerable
With a rating of almost 100, Vancouver is the world’s most liveable city according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest liveability ranking (see full report). The city, which will host the Winter Olympics in 2010, achieves the best possible score for all indicators, with the exception of prevalence of petty crime. Canada and Australia perform strongly because they benefit from good infrastruct... Read Full Story
National Bank Financial Group and Teranet announced yesterday that they have launched a National Bank House Price Index(TM). This index is the first independent, transparent and verifiable representation of the rate of change of Canadian single-family home prices. The measurements are based on the property records of public land registries. The indices, published on the last Wednesday of each month at www.housepriceindex.ca, cover six Canadian metropolitan areas - Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, ... Read Full Story
Last month, the average residential sales price in Canada was $30,000 lower than a year ago.
“Canadian home sales look to be one of the biggest casualties from the intense market turmoil,” BMO Nesbitt Burns economist Doug Porter wrote in a note.
“We declared early this year that the housing boom was over, and these figures on the surface would suggest the bust has begun.”
The average price of a home in October was $281,133, compared with $312,024 in October of 2007, ac... Read Full Story
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released their annual Canadian Housing Observer today. The 115-page report examines the state of Canada’s housing market from a variety of perspectives, combining national coverage with provincial and metropolitan detail. The report discusses influences on housing demand, current market developments, housing finance, housing affordability, sustainable communities, and other topics.
The report is full of useful statistics and analysis ... Read Full Story
The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced the Government will purchase up to an additional $50 billion of insured mortgage pools by the end of the fiscal year as part of its ongoing efforts to maintain the availability of longer-term credit in Canada.
This action will increase to $75 billion the maximum value of securities purchased through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) under this program.
“At a time of considerable uncertainty in global financia... Read Full Story
OTTAWA, November 10, 2008 — The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 211,800 units in October, down from 218,600 units in September, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
“Housing starts remained strong in October and are consistent with our new home construction forecast for 2008,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “The slight decrease in housing starts is the result of declines in both single-detached and multiple start... Read Full Story
The Toronto Real Estate Board posted the following press release on their website yesterday. They mention that 2007 was a record year and that the decline we are seeing is a return to a more balanced market. What do you think? Post your thoughts below.
TORONTO, November 5, 2008 — The Greater Toronto Area resale housing market reported 5,155 sales in October, Toronto Real Estate Board President Maureen O’Neill announced today.
This represents a 35 per cent decline from the 7,915 ... Read Full Story
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released a report yesterday stating that new home construction will moderate from historically high levels, to reach just under 178,000 units in 2009.
“High employment levels, rising incomes and low mortgage rates have continued to provide a solid foundation for healthy housing markets this year,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist for CMHC. “Housing starts will moderate to 212,200 units in 2008 and 177,975 units in 2009.”
Existing home sales,... Read Full Story
