Three good news

Canada: Three good news© 2009, IRED.Com, Inc., Simeon Mitropolitski

Simeon Mitropolitski.
Canada Affordability 2002
Canada Affordability 2005
Canada Affordability 2006
Canada Affordability 2008
Canada like many other industrial nations is in economic crisis. The government projects that in 2009 the economy will shrink by at least 7 pct. And yet, there are some good news coming from or related to the real estate market. The housing starts are again going up, and significantly. The housing affordability is also moving up, meaning more people have to spend less to become or to remain owners. The inflation is under control and the central bank promises to keep the main rates at their historic low levels. Let's be clear, the Canadian economy cannot overcome the crisis alone, given its high dependency on foreign trade. In other words, until the United States is in crisis (80 pct of the trade is with this country alone), Canada will be in crisis. Nevertheless, these recent numbers show that the crisis may be milder than south of the border.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased to 154,700 units in March from 136,100 units in February, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. There are more starts in the two key provinces, Ontario and Quebec, where almost two third of the entire population lives. There is, however, some decline in British Columbia, in Atlantic Canada, and in the Prairies. In the latter, the main reason is falling down energy prices.
There is some improved housing affordability, according to the latest housing report by the Royal Bank of Canada. The sharp deteriorating trend in RBC's affordability measures from mid-2004 to early 2008 has been reversed in the past year. Compared with a year earlier, RBC's measures improved 2.3 to 3.5 percentage points due primarily to lower lending rates. The housing affordability measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home. The affordability for detached bungalow is now at 43.7 pct, the standard townhouse is at 35.4 pct, the standard condo is at 30.1 pct, and the standard two-story home is at 50 pct. The affordability measure for a detached bungalow for Canada's largest cities is as follows: Vancouver 70.3 pct, Toronto 51.3 pct, Calgary 42.7 pct, Ottawa 42.7 pct and Montreal 39.4 pct.
The Bank of Canada says it will keep the key-lending rate at its historic low level of .25 pct until June 2010, and if that doesn't help Canada survive the recession it will take less conventional measures like buying out governmental and corporate papers.
Canada profile:
Area: 9,984,670 sq km
Population: 33,390,141 (July 2007 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.869% (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: 80.34 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.61 children born/woman (2007 est.)
GDP per capita: purchasing power parity $38,200 (2007 est.)
GDP (real growth rate): 2.5% (2007 est.)
Main trading partners: the United States, China, Mexico, United Kingdom, and Japan.
Internet users: 22 million (2007) (Source: CIA World Factbook 2008, Reuters)