Here are the most recent news stories posted for the Trans-Canada Highway:Sudbury Housing starts on the rise
(Posted:08/10/2012)
ON: According to preliminary data released Thursday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, there were 82 housing starts in the Greater Sudbury Census Metropolitan Area in July, up from 35 last July.
Forty-seven of the 82 starts were condominium units, or 57% of all activity in the month.
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Victoria housing starts drop 34 percent
(Posted:08/10/2012)
BC: There were 150 total housing starts last month, a 34 per cent drop from the 229 in July 2011. Year-todate, there have been 837 total starts, down 14 per cent from the 973 through the first seven months of last year
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Calgary Housing starts spike
(Posted:08/10/2012)
AB: Last month, 734 units broke ground in Calgary, up 40 per cent on the 526 starts in July 2011, reports the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
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Housing starts up in the St. John's area
(Posted:08/10/2012)
NL: July’s housing starts totalled 276 units throughout the St. John’s area compared to 258 units in July 2011. Year-to-date starts are up 13 per cent to 1,207 units.
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Regina Housing starts double 2011 pace
(Posted:08/10/2012)
SK: According to the CMHC's monthly survey of residential construction, 1,688 housing units have been started in since Jan., compared to 847 in the same time period in 2011. Housing starts for the month of July reached 263, 116 more than in July 2011.
The year-to-date number of housing starts in 2012 is quickly approaching the total number of housing starts - 1,694 - for all of 2011.
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Edmonton housing starts surge
(Posted:08/10/2012)
AB: Jobs and newcomers are boosting home construction in the Edmonton region to levels not seen since the early 2000s, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Housing starts in the Edmonton census metropolitan area for July surged to 1,435, up from 1,034 in July 2011.
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Canada July Housing Starts Slow as Builders Pare Back Condos
(Posted:08/09/2012)
Canada: Canadian housing starts fell more than expected in July on a decline in multiple-unit projects in British Columbia.
Construction of new homes dropped 6.1 percent from June to a 208,500 seasonally adjusted annual pace, Ottawa-based Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. said today.
Canadian home prices will decline 10 percent over the next two to three years.
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Scotiabank Says Canada Housing Correction on the Horizon
(Posted:08/08/2012)
Canada: Wall Street Journal: Economists from Bank of Nova Scotia are the latest to cast their lot in the camp forecasting a housing correction for Canada.
They are projecting a decline in Canadian housing prices of roughly 10% over the next two to three years, with more pronounced declines set to hit the hot Toronto and Vancouver markets.
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Canadian housing starts climb unexpectedly in June - CMHC
(Posted:07/13/2012)
Canada: The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts surged to 222,700 units in June 2012 as compared with an upwardly revised rate of 217,400 units in May 2012. The May figure was revised up from 211,400 units.
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Banks warn Ottawa over lending rules
(Posted:07/03/2012)
Canada:
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The federal government’s efforts to cool the overheated housing market are raising concerns among Canada’s biggest banks that the changes might hit the economy harder than intended, particularly if the new measures are left in place for too long.
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Changes to mortgage rules will impact South Georgian Bay area
(Posted:07/03/2012)
ON: Mullen says the area also doesn't have a lot of alternatives for home buyers with a low income.
“We don't have a lot of affordable housing in our region. So how many people have we knocked out of being able to buy a home?” she said.
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20 Observations on the New Mortgage Rules
(Posted:06/25/2012)
Canada:
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Real estate is already cooling. So why the new chill?
(Posted:06/25/2012)
ON: Detractors point to a real estate market that is already in decline in some parts of the country, in terms of both price and sales. Even those who acknowledge Mr. Flaherty might be right about Toronto’s condominium sector being overheated seem to believe that market is already correcting on its own.
Overall, the housing market has cooled. The Canadian Real Estate Association said yesterday its benchmark index for home prices was up 5.2% in May from year a earlier with gains in the Vancouver market shrinking and Toronto up about 7.9% from a year ago.
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Housing boom grinding to a halt
(Posted:06/25/2012)
ON: Canada’s housing boom will grind to a halt next year, stopped by price declines in the condominium-saturated markets of Toronto and Vancouver, according to a Reuters poll, raising the risk of a broader economic slowdown.
On a national basis, Canadian house prices are expected to rise 2.0 percent this year before stalling next year with a negligible 0.5 percent gain, according to median results of the poll, which was conducted last week.
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Windsor and Essex County housing starts to rise (and other communities...)
(Posted:06/25/2012)
ON: Based on monthly moving averages, the board projects there will be 742 starts this year compared to 535 a year ago, an increase of 39 per cent.
The board also projects housing start increases in Halifax, Oshawa, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria and Abbotsford.
Communities where starts are expected to drop include St. John’s, Quebec, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, Kingston, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Regina, Saskatoon, Saint John, Montreal, Trois-Rivieres, Ottawa-Gatineau, St. Catharines-Niagara and Victoria
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Calgary region housing starts on the upswing
(Posted:06/25/2012)
AB: In a report released Monday, the board said the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of starts in the Calgary region was 10,724 units in April, up substantially from 7,720 a year ago.
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Housing market may cool soon: bank of Canada
(Posted:06/25/2012)
Canada: The Bank of Canada warned on Thursday that the country’s red-hot housing market could start to cool soon, a prospect that would strain the financial system and put households carrying too much debt under intense pressure, in its semi-annual Financial System Review.
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Changes in mortgagge rules announced
(Posted:06/21/2012)
Canada: Allowable amortization reduced to 25 years, and down payments for homes over $1 million raised to 20%.
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Starts skyrocket in Airdrie
(Posted:05/28/2012)
AB: Housing start totals in Airdrie saw a 96 per cent upswing to start the year, compared to 2011 activity, says the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC)
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Canada April Composite Leading Indicators
(Posted:05/23/2012)
Canada:
The components related to household demand supported the increase in April, led by a rise in housing starts. Both furniture sales and sales of other durable goods posted a third monthly gain.
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Halifax housing starts nosedive
(Posted:05/23/2012)
NS: The document, released Tuesday by the Conference Board of Canada, shows that new residential housing starts in Halifax dropped from 3,269 a year ago to 1,475 on April 12.
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Royal Bank, CIBC Face Greatest Mortgage Exposure Risk - Fitch
(Posted:05/21/2012)
Canada: Royal Bank of Canada (RY, RY.T) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM, CM.T) are the most susceptible to potential residential mortgage risk among Canada's big six banks, Fitch Ratings said in a release Monday.
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Canada April inflation sparks more rate-hike talk
(Posted:05/18/2012)
Canada: On an annual basis the overall inflation rate rose to 2.0 percent in April from 1.9 percent in March, Statistics Canada said on Friday. The core rate, which excludes volatile items, climbed to 2.1 percent from 1.9 percent.
"From a strictly domestic standpoint, I think it does advance the case for the bank raising rates," said BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist Doug Porter.
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Caviar condos set to flood Toronto market
(Posted:05/14/2012)
ON: Toronto is expecting a glut of 5-star suitesto hit the market as the four of the biggest names in the hotel business open hundreds of units in Canada's largest city.
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Delinquency rate on Canadian mortgages at 0.4 percent
(Posted:05/13/2012)
Canada:
The highest delinquency rate appears to be in Alberta, where 0.7 percent of homeowners are behind on their home loans. According to CIBC, this could be because of a high rate of younger, less established homeowners in the region. The figures are still far healthier than the delinquent mortgage rate of U.S. homeowners, which credit rating agency TransUnion places at 5.78 percent, according to The Associated Press.
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Reverse Mortgage Showdown
(Posted:05/13/2012)
Canada: From an investment standpoint, few mortgage lenders present a better risk/reward than HomEquity Bank, a subsidiary of HOMEQ.
Its product, the CHIP reverse mortgage, has enormous upside in terms of growth, with extraordinarily low loss rates.
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Calgary Home starts triple year over year
(Posted:05/13/2012)
AB: The numbers for the Calgary housing market are close to, but not completely in, the stratospheric heights of the boom years from late 2005 to early 2008, but they’re certainly knocking the socks off of 2011.
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Economists raise red flag on overheated housing market.
(Posted:05/09/2012)
Canada: "This report reflects unbelievable strength in Canadian housing starts, and all of the gain was in multiples again which reflect the ongoing Canadian condo craze,'' said Scotia Capital economist Derek Holt.
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Canadian housing starts beat expectations
(Posted:05/09/2012)
Canada: New home starts in April were a stunningly high 244900 units, seasonally adjusted and annualized, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) . The percentage changes month to month (+14.0%) and especially year over year (+28.8%)
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Globe & Mail: How condo boom threatens a 'ghost city phenomenon'
(Posted:05/08/2012)
Canada: Housing starts shoot higher on back of condo boom.
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Canada March building permits surge, housing cools
(Posted:05/07/2012)
Canada: Building permits issued by municipalities jumped 4.7 percent from February t o C$6.5 billion ($6.5 billion), confounding market expectations of a 2.8 percent decline.
The increase followed a 7.6 percent gain in February, according to revised figures.
Intentions for residential buildings fell 1.3 percent in March as the value of permits fell by 1.7 percent for single-family dwellings and by 0.7 percent for multi-family dwellings.
Permits for non-residential buildings jumped 13.9 percent to C$2.9 billion ($2.9 billion), their highest level since June 2010.
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Which Mortgage Term Is Right For You?
(Posted:05/06/2012)
Canada: Before you set out to secure the lowest mortgage rate available, you’ll need to make an important decision concerning your payment term. Almost every new mortgage customer struggles when it comes to deciding their amortization schedule. While some customers prefer the lower monthly costs of a long-term mortgage, other’s want to pay off their loan as quickly as possible.
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Considerations in buying that cottage
(Posted:05/06/2012)
Canada: Snowbirds are returning from the sunny south, and the Victoria Day holiday has historically been “opening weekend” for many cottagers. This is a time of year with a lot of turnover of vacation properties. It’s important to know ahead of time that mortgages for recreational properties may be subject to different lending requirements and higher interest rates than your home.
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Spring Mortgage Market Update (2012)
(Posted:05/03/2012)
Canada: the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) recommends some dramatic changes to the way mortgages are underwritten by our lenders. Stop allowing borrowers to use cash backs as down payments. Financial institutions who buy and pool mortgages from third-party lenders will need to ensure that those lenders are underwriting their loans properly. Heavier regulation of “stated-income” loans, where a borrower’s income is not verified using traditional methods. Requiring lenders to update the appraised values of mortgaged properties at renewal.
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BMO forecasts 3% growth for Sask. economy in 2012
(Posted:05/03/2012)
SK: Saskatchewan’s economy — which posted the real GDP growth of 4.8 per cent in 2011, second-highest among the provinces — should grow by 2.9 per cent this year, good for second-place again, this time behind Alberta, according to BMO Economics.
Housing starts are projected to hit 7,600 in 2012, an increase 5.5 per cent from 7,200 in 2011, and increase a similar amount to 7,800 in 2013, BMO said.
Housing starts are projected to hit 7,600 in 2012, an increase 5.5 per cent from 7,200 in 2011, and increase a similar amount to 7,800 in 2013, BMO said.
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What your home will look like in 2015
(Posted:10/27/2011)
Canada: Fast Company's futurists work with the National Association of Home Builders (US) for their look at what homes will look like in just a few years
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Housing Prices Vary Significantly Around the World
(Posted:10/05/2011)
Canada: Wired magazine reports on per-square-foot prices for housing varies significantly around the world. How lucky are we? (even in Vancouver. Toornto)
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Widening Canada-US House Price Gap
(Posted:09/29/2011)
Canada: Toronto Globe & Mail reports that average Canadian home is now twice as expensive as comprable American homes in this chart. Canadian home prices continue to climb, while US home prices are still falling from their 2005 peak (or close to their lows).
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Canada November Composite Leading Indicators: Housing up
(Posted:12/14/2010)
Canada: Following is the text of Canada's leading indicators report from Statistics Canada.
The composite index rose 0.3% in November, the same as in October. Among the 10 components, 6 posted gains, 3 were unchanged and 1 declined.
The housing index recorded the largest turnaround, increasing 2.0% after six straight declines averaging almost 3% a month. Both housing starts and existing home sales firmed after sizable retreats from their highs in the spring. The upturn in housing was reflected in a levelling off of furniture and appliance sales, after four straight declines.
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Canada Housing Starts Rise First Time in Four Months, Exceeding Forecasts
(Posted:12/08/2010)
Canada: Starts advanced 11.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 187,200 from a revised 167,800 rate in October, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said from Ottawa today. The reading exceeded all 21 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey that had a median estimate of 173,000 units.
Housing starts will drop to 174,800 units in 2011 from an estimated 186,200 units this year, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Nov. 15. The Bank of Canada said in October that housing will be a drag on economic growth next year, after temporary stimulus measures for homeowners lapsed.
The Canadian Housing Market is Expected to Stabilize- Predict Experts
(Posted:12/08/2010)
Canada: Even though the mortgage rates have increased from 3.39% to 3.69 %, they are still at historic lows. Thus, it’s still a buyer’s market. In fact experts suggest that Canada’s mortgage industry is vastly stable and competitive than its American and Australian markets. In the US, there were 54,000 mortgage firms, while only 8000 of them are left today. On a national level the housing affordability improved between 1.4 and 2.5 % points from the second quarter,” adds Ken Faminoff (first name).
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RBC predicts stability in housing market
(Posted:12/01/2010)
Canada: Canada's largest bank is predicting a period of stability in the housing market next year as rising mortgage rates are offset by improvements in the job market and household income.
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Canadian housing starts dove 9.2%
(Posted:11/22/2010)
Canada: In October, Canadian housing starts dove 9.2% to 167.9K units from a downwardly revised 185K in September. This is an acceleration of what had been a smooth down trend in starts since April. Urban starts plunged to 142.4K from 162.3K the previous month. Rural starts sprang to 25.5K from 22.7K. This worse-thanexpected overall decline was broad-based, with starts falling in 4 of 5 regions. Only the Atlantic region (+32.9% or +2.4K) posted a gain
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Niagara Housing market to dip slightly in 2011
(Posted:11/20/2010)
ON: The agency predicts sales of existing homes should reach 5,700 in 2011, a 2.6 per cent drop over 2010. Likewise, construction starts for all types of housing should hit 1,000 next year, a drop of 4.8 per cent over 2010.
Construction starts for single detached homes will see the biggest drop, with 600 starts predicted for 2011 — a drop of 11.8 per cent over 2010, and a full 198 starts lower than 2007.
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Saskatoon Housing starts to dip in 2011
(Posted:11/16/2010)
SK: The number of homes built in Saskatoon in 2011 will fall back from an estimated 2,125 houses constructed in the city this year, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) said Monday.
While new housing starts are up this year over 2009, when hammer met nail on 1,428 new residential projects, the CMHC says 2011 starts will moderate to 1,700 units.
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National resale housing market further stabilizes
(Posted:10/25/2010)
Canada: National resale housing activity edged higher for a second consecutive month in September 2010. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) national sales activity in September 2010 came in 19.8 per cent below last year’s record for the month, but stands only slightly below September sales in the previous three years.
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CREA Ratifies Competition Consent Agreement in St John's
(Posted:10/24/2010)
Canada: Members may no longer deny or discriminate against REALTORS® wishing to offer mere posting services on the Realtors.ca website.
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Realtors to be eligible for EI coverage
(Posted:10/31/2010)
Canada: Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley to announce that self-employed REALTORS® can now participate in the Employment Insurance (EI) program.
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