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New home construction in Canada is expected to drop by 24 per cent this year as part of the fallout from a slowing economy, but rebound in 2010, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. forecast Thursday. Housing starts are seen to be about 160,250 units for 2009, down sharply from 211,056 units in 2008, the country's national housing agency said in its first-quarter Housing Market Outlook report. The forecast was revised lower from the fourth-quarter outlook, which predicted in October that Canadian home building would slip to 177,975 units this year. This would put starts below 200,000 units for the first time in seven years. Low mortgage rates and a growing economy contributed to a healthy housing market for years. But home construction, a cornerstone of Canadian growth, has steadily declined in each of last four months as the economy felt the bite of the global financial crisis. "The economic downturn will result in a decrease in demand for home ownership leading to a decline in housing starts and existing home sales in 2009," Bob Dugan, chief economist for CMHC, said in a statement. "Housing market activity will begin to strengthen as the Canadian economy rebounds in 2010 and the level of housing starts over the forecast period will be more in line with demographic fundamentals. " Recommend this article... |
With all the doom and gloom about the economy of late- and it will be a tough year for all businesses this year- including ours- I thought a little perspective might help. Below is a recent article in Newsweek Magazine about Canada's place in the world economy.
Fareed Zakaria
NEWSWEEK
From the magazine issue dated Feb 16, 2009
The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a "Boring Headline Contest" and decided that the winner was "Worthwhile Canadian Initiative." Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada's virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it's Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's banking system the healthiest in the world. America's ranked 40th, Britain's 44th. Recommend this article... |
Life in the world of short sales is great! It's not just here in Calgary but all over the country as well. Timing to get involved has never been better. However, you may not have heard a lot recently about the so-called "real estate short sale." You may also have asked yourself: "what is a short sale?" Certainly, with the increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, there have been many more short sale investing opportunities.
A short sale is sometimes called a pre-foreclosure sale, and that describes one aspect of it. It is a house sale that takes place before foreclosure is completed, and thus it avoids the property going into full foreclosure. The reason it is called a "short sale" is because the money paid for the house is short of the amount that is owed on the mortgage.Recommend this article... |
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After a record-breaking rush on Saskatchewan oil and gas lands, sales are off to a much slower start in 2009, After flocking to hot plays such as the Bakken light oilfield in the province's southeast, energy producers say they are cutting back spending until crude prices improve. "We have been quite aggressive there . . . so we have quite a few opportunities out in front of us that we'll be chipping away at this year," said Lorne Swalm, chief executive of Reece Energy Exploration Corp.,a Medicine Hat-based junior with all of its production in Saskatchewan. "But buying land right now that we might use two to three or four years from now doesn't make sense." Recommend this article... |
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M LS residential sales across the country fell by almost 41 per cent in January compared with a year ago, but affordability improved with average sale prices dropping as well, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. In releasing its national monthly data Friday, CREA said house sales fell by 58.5 per cent in Greater Vancouver and by 49 per cent in Calgary. "Weak sales activity in January follows the CREA forecast that national MLS sales activity will be well below the activity of last year," said Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist. "Afford-ability has improved and will be better during the spring home buying season in many markets compared to last year. However, weak consumer confidence is likely to continue squeezing sales activity." Recommend this article... |
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Real estate marketing has come a long way in the last 5 years. There are so many more marketing outlets available to you because of the Internet. Business cards are still a good tool, but now you can add an e-mail address, a website, and a social networking page or blog site. This puts your face and knowledge out there for potential clients to see. The Internet gives you the opportunity to reach out to prospective clients. Blogs are a great tool for marketing. You use a blog to give pertinent information about the real estate market and financing options to your readers. You can state your opinions, and feelings about certain practices. This lets the readers get to know you and they have a vested interest in coming back to your blog. Make sure that your articles reach out to the average person. Recommend this article... |
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Yes, it is true; many people are making a very comfortable living through real estate investing. But while the majority of people have a great investing experience, there are those that get taken in by scam artists and end up purchasing a property that has been misrepresented. To save yourself the expense and hassle of making this mistake, you should look for obvious signs and know when to back out of a deal no matter how good it may seem.
The first and most obvious sign that an offer is too good to be true is that it just seems too good to be true. If you are approached with a deal that seems a little too generous, there is a good chance that you are going to get burned. Be sure to examine the offer thoroughly and find out why the owner of the property would sell it so cheaply. In some cases, there will be a plausible reason why the homeowner wants rid of the property. Maybe he is on the verge of bankruptcy or there is an illness in the family which makes in necessary to move quickly. In the absence of any logical reasoning, though, there are likely hidden problems with the property, problems that you do not want to make your own. Recommend this article... |
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