Canadian economy grows 5%, tops forecasts

The Canadian economy expanded by a greater-than-expected 5 per cent in the fourth quarter, raising the likelihood of interest rate hikes later this year.

The country's gross domestic product grew at the fastest annualized pace since the third quarter of 2000, Statistics Canada said Monday.

The economy's burst boosts the odds of a string of rate hikes in the second half of the year. The Bank of Canada announces its interest-rate decision tomorrow, and while rates are on hold for now, the tone of the announcement could well acknowledge that growth is picking up speed at a faster pace than anticipated.

“This report shouts strength, and increases the odds the Bank of Canada will begin to hike interest rates in July and stay on that path in the following decisions,” said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at Bank of Montreal.

The Canadian dollar climbed after the report, to 95.51 cents (U.S.) from Friday's close of 95.08 cents.

First Time MLS® January Sales Dollar Volume Cracks $100 million

WINNIPEG – Despite MLS® sales being down less than 500 for the first time in 6 years, dollar volume continues to forge ahead as it crashed through the $100 million mark for the first time in the month of January. Helping bring this level up to a record total in January was a home sale worth $1,080,000. Last year WinnipegREALTORS® saw more million dollar plus sales than ever before at 14 (previous best was 2008 with 8 sales).

The weak sales results to a large degree reflect a real shortage of residential-detached listings in a number of the sought after MLS® neighbourhoods within Winnipeg. There were a number of areas where there were more sales than new listings coming on the market in January so any of the remaining inventory from December was adding to the larger sales figure. With the exception of 2009, the overall MLS® listing inventory is still better than some previous years but that does not mean anything to a buyer looking for a home in a particular area with nothing for sale.

More credence to the lack of listings yet strong demand was the fact 35% of homes this January sold for above list price. This was over twice the percentage recorded in January 2009. The average residential-detached sales price was up 17 % from January 2009 and rose 2% over the best December ever in 2009 where the average sale price was $219,000. The average days on market to sell a residential-detached listing in January was 10 days faster than the same month last year.

January MLS® unit sales were down 7% (487/524) while dollar volume was up 6% ($102.1 million/$96.5 million) in comparison to the same month a year ago. The equivalent of one in two new listings were sold in the month of January and one in four active listings changed hands.

“While a somewhat disappointing sales result given how strong a finishing month WinnipegREALTORS® enjoyed last year, there are signs based on other performance indicators that market improvement is in the offing once more listings start coming on stream,” said Claude Davis, president of WinnipegREALTORS®. “You might say it is still too early in the game to get overly concerned and the next few months will show more of a trend line that will determine how our MLS® market should perform this year.”

The latest employment numbers released in February show an improvement in employment across the country (Manitoba’s unemployment rate edged down from 5.8 to 5.4 per cent) and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney gave no hint in Winnipeg while speaking at a Chamber event this week that he was about to raise the bank rate anytime soon so Canadians can continue to take advantage of the most favourable mortgage financing terms in years.

“It is important to understand how the affordability of housing through lower interest rates can help the entire housing market,” stated Davis. “If someone is looking to build and/or buy a brand new home which is significantly higher than the average resale home price in this market then they will be relying on selling an existing home to give them the necessary equity to qualify them for the more expensive undertaking. Their move to a new home triggers the release of an existing home to go on the market and therefore can even set the stage for another home listing if the buyer of the resale home is a homeowner.”

The most active residential-detached price ranges in January 2010 were the $150-$199,999 and the $200,000 to $249,999 ranges with 21 and 20% respectively of total sales. While less active than the aforementioned price ranges, the $250,000 to $299,999 price range had the lowest average days to sell on market at 24 days. Speaking of days on market, the average residential-detached days on market for January 2010 was 32 days, 3 days faster than last month and 10 days quicker than January 2009.

The average days on market for condominium sales in January 2010 was 47 days, over three weeks slower than the previous month and ten days off the pace set in January 2009.

 

 

Zoning memorandums to cost sellers up to $180 - Winnipeg Free Press

Zoning memorandums to cost sellers up to $180 - Winnipeg Free Press

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SLOW START, GREAT FINISH TO 2009 - Almost $2.5 Billion Worth of MLS® Sales

WINNIPEG – Winnipeg’s MLS® market shook off early year recession concerns and another major flood to post a much better second half and end the year with a strong result.  2009 MLS® sales of 12,182 only take a back seat to the 2007 record-setting year of over 13,000 sales and to 2008 and 2006 where sales were 12,630 and 12,304 respectively. Considering in the early stages of 2009, MLS® sales were down as much as 12% and worked their way back to be off less than 4% is quite a come back. More impressive however is that MLS® dollar volume rebounded from being down 9% at the end of May to finish ahead by 2%, and in doing so, set an all time best MLS® dollar volume record just shy of $2.5 billion.   

The Winnipeg market has proven three years in a row that $2 billion worth of MLS® sales activity is attainable and then some. It is a reflection of strong market fundamentals and the continued strength of the local economy which is supporting increased population growth.

WinnipegREALTORS® 2009 Year End MLS® Highlights

In 2009 there were 14 MLS® residential sales over $1million, 13 were residential-detached listings and one was a condominium. The highest sale price of all of them was a Wellington Crescent condo at $1.5 million. This beats out 2008’s record year with a total of 8 million dollar plus properties sold.
In contrast to these higher end sales, the lowest priced listing was a residential-detached property which sold for $3,500.
The 9,205 residential-detached sales in 2009 represent 3 out of every 4 MLS® sales.
Residential-Detached

CANADA’S REAL ESTATE MARKET EXPECTED TO CONTINUE STRONG GAINS INTO THE FIRST HALF OF 2010

Demand and supply finding balance in the second half of the year

TORONTO, January 7, 2010 – Canada’s residential real estate market is forecast to remain unusually strong through the first half of 2010 as economic conditions across the country improve and the stimulus impact of low interest rates continues to stoke demand, according to today’s Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast. As confidence in the recovery builds in early 2010, increases in average house price levels and overall market activity are expected to continue. The gradual erosion of affordability driven by higher house prices and the expected late-year modest upward movement of interest rates, together with an improvement in listings supply as confidence improves, are expected to bring the market back into balance in the second half of the year, when home price increases are expected to moderate.

Average Canadian home prices up slightly, says Royal LePage survey

The housing market may be recovering, but is experiencing an undersupply of homes for sale in southern Ontario and elsewhere in Canada.

That's according to the latest house price survey by Royal LePage. It says with the recession retreating, home prices are stabilizing and unit sales are increasingly driven by improved affordability.

Royal LePage says the average price of a two storey home in Canada is up just 0.1 per cent from a year ago at $409,335.

Average bungalow values grew 0.06 per cent year-over-year to $341,146, while the price of an average condo increased 0.09 per cent to $243,748.

Royal LePage says a shortage in housing supply is leading to bidding wars in several cities, including Toronto, Montreal, St. John's, N.L.; St. John, N.B. Moncton, Edmonton, Calgary, North and West Vancouver, and Victoria.

While the Atlantic provinces saw a strong recovery in home prices, western provinces have been slower to recover from significant price corrections in 2008, particularly in British Columbia and Alberta.

Ontario and Quebec saw home prices stabilize or gain slightly year-over-year with much of the recovery occurring in a strong third quarter.