April 2011 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

In Toronto house hunt, bully offers are losing their bite




It doesn`t take much to provoke a bully in Toronto`s spring housing market.




Houses for sale are scarce and potential buyers are in a combative mood.




`Buyers are more aggressive,` says agent Rochelle DeClute of ReMax Hallmark Realty Ltd., who scrambled on a recent Sunday night to bring four potential buyers to the negotiating table.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

What the Future Holds for Canadian Real Estate



Everyone wishes they had a crystal ball, with a clear picture of the future. But homeowners and investors looking at the housing market numbers for clarity are looking in the wrong place.





That`s because the numbers (average price, housing starts, sales-to-listing ratios, etc.) are only a reflection of what has occurred in the past.





Smart homeowners, first-time buyers and investors ignore those stats and focus on the underlying economic fundamentals, and by doing so can quite accurately predict what will happen in their target region`s real estate market.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Survey says: Canada is the second happiest country in the world




Are you happy? According to a new global wellbeing survey from Gallup, 69% of Canadians rated their lives as `thriving` in 2010 ` putting the country in a tie with Sweden for second place in the rankings. The top spot belongs to Denmark, where 72% of residents are feeling pretty great about life. Who could be sad in the country where meatballs are plentiful?


Respondents had three options to choose from: `thriving` ` where they classified their lives as ` a 7 or higher and their lives in five years an 8 or higher,` `struggling,` or `suffering.` Gallup`s method is based on the Cantril Scale, which encourages participants to imagine a ladder with 10 steps (to signify a scale of 10). The top of the ladder is the best life imaginable, and as you can expect, 0 is the worst.







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Survey says: Canada is the second happiest country in the world






Are you happy? According to a new global wellbeing survey from Gallup, 69% of Canadians rated their lives as `thriving` in 2010 ` putting the country in a tie with Sweden for second place in the rankings. The top spot belongs to Denmark, where 72% of residents are feeling pretty great about life. Who could be sad in the country where meatballs are plentiful?


Respondents had three options to choose from: `thriving` ` where they classified their lives as ` a 7 or higher and their lives in five years an 8 or higher,` `struggling,` or `suffering.` Gallup`s method is based on the Cantril Scale, which encourages participants to imagine a ladder with 10 steps (to signify a scale of 10). The top of the ladder is the best life imaginable, and as you can expect, 0 is the worst.







Read the ful larticle here.

 

[Ally]

Survey says: Canada is the second happiest country in the world




Are you happy? According to a new global wellbeing survey from Gallup, 69% of Canadians rated their lives as `thriving` in 2010 ` putting the country in a tie with Sweden for second place in the rankings. The top spot belongs to Denmark, where 72% of residents are feeling pretty great about life. Who could be sad in the country where meatballs are plentiful?




Respondents had three options to choose from: `thriving` ` where they classified their lives as ` a 7 or higher and their lives in five years an 8 or higher,` `struggling,` or `suffering.` Gallup`s method is based on the Cantril Scale, which encourages participants to imagine a ladder with 10 steps (to signify a scale of 10). The top of the ladder is the best life imaginable, and as you can expect, 0 is the worst.







Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Carney won't panic over inflation spike




The headline inflation rate -- the year-over-year change in the Consumer Price Index -- increased to 3.3 per cent in March. This increase was largely due to higher prices for energy and food; gasoline prices alone were up 18.9 per cent over March, 2010.




An inflation rate of 3.3 per cent is well over the Bank of Canada`s target of 2 per cent: does the March CPI release put that target in danger? Will higher and more volatile fluctuations in energy and food prices drag us back to the days of high and unstable rates of inflation?




The answers to these questions are no and no. The only way higher energy and food prices will generate higher inflation is if the Bank of Canada lets them. And the Bank has repeatedly demonstrated its ability and determination to keep inflation rates at an average of 2 per cent.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Federal deficit on track to become well below projections





The federal government may be on pace to pull Canada out of the red earlier than expected, according to a Finance Department report released on Thursday.




The monthly Fiscal Monitor indicated that the federal deficit grew by $600 million in February, after gaining $300 million in January.




With one month remaining in the fiscal year, the federal deficit sits at $28.3 billion ` well under the $40 billion deficit for 2010-11 that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty projected last month.




The Finance Department report attributed over $14 billion of this year`s $28.3-billion deficit to the federal stimulus package, pointing to tax cuts, Employment Insurance measures and increased infrastructure funding as contributing costs.




Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

New Manitoba anti-crime law will hold landlords responsible





The Manitoba government tabled new legislation Wednesday that would make landlords more accountable for illegal activity taking place on their property.




The legislation was introduced by Andrew Swan, minister of justice and attorney general.




When passed into law, Bill 16 would expand the type of illegal activities that law enforcement could bring before the courts under the criminal organization provisions in the Criminal Code of Canada and under the province`s Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act.




If proven in court, buildings where these activities occurred could be seized.




Activities include drug trafficking, prostitution, possession of illegal weapons and selling alcohol without a licence.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

A quick tour of the world's booming farmland markets




Farmland prices in the UK increased 13% in 2010 alone, according to the Knight Frank Farmland Index. High quality land is available at a fraction of the price in places like Argentina where farmland value went up 10% last year.







Prices have been driven by a rising demand for land with sovereigns looking to secure their food supply and investors looking to diversify their portfolios.







Developing nations often perceive this sort of investing to be land grabbing and countries like Brazil have moved to restrict ownership. Economists like Robert Shiller even believe farmland could be the next bubble.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Newly rich Newfoundland still enjoying perks of its 'have-not' past




Anyone who still believes Newfoundland is a have-not province should take a close look at its latest budget.




The province is forecasting budget surpluses of $485-million this year and $59-million next year. Yes, that`s black ink. The province is on a track to generate a combined $5-billion in surpluses between 2006 and 2012, according to its budget tabled last week.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Provinces join ranks to stop eastward March of mountain pine beetle




It`s no longer a matter of if, but when the destructive mountain pine beetle will spread east of Alberta through Canada`s northern boreal forest, say provincial forestry experts in Manitoba and Ontario.




These provinces, along with Saskatchewan, are stepping up efforts to reduce the insect`s anticipated damage. A recent study confirming that, in Alberta, the beetle has jumped species from lodgepole pine to jack pine trees ` the most common type of pine in the boreal forest ` has amplified concerns and stirred new calls for the federal government to play a stronger role in implementing a national forestry pest strategy.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Check owner-to-rent ration when buying a condo




Buying a house is a big learning experience for most of us, since we do it infrequently. Buying a condo presents even more challenges.




I always advise people to do lots of research, talk to neighbours and check the minutes of the condo board meetings. Don't make an impulse purchase, as Jody White described doing in a MoneySense article, "Went for a coffee, came home with a condo."




I recently talked to Peter C, a reader who bought a condo apartment in downtown Toronto before it was built. This was a first home purchase for the school teacher in his late 40s, who hoped to pay off his mortgage quickly and retire early.




So, how is he doing? What has he learned since moving into his unit two and a half years ago?





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Do you need an agent for a bidding war?




More people are trying to sell their homes by themselves, either through sale by owner systems or by using an agent to post their information onto the MLS system for a fee and then not using the agent for anything else.




One question is whether these private sellers can take advantage of the many bidding wars, especially in the Toronto area, that are diving selling prices above asking. Private sellers wonder whether they can create the same atmosphere. I think the answer is no.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Fall in love while shopping for a home, but do it carefully




First-time homebuyers should behave like investors because that`s how they`ll save money and ultimately live a happier life, says Don Campbell, a Vancouver real estate expert.




`If you prefer not to save money, then think like a homebuyer,` says Campbell, an investor who analyzes and writes about the Canadian real estate industry.




And while it`s tough to approach your first home with your brain instead of your heart, Campbell recommends looking for certain criteria in the area you like that will encourage you to make a wise decision.




`You fall in love with a house in a neighbourhood that has a future and not a past,` he says. `Buy in an area where the property values will go up.`




Buying close to a train or LRT station is a good idea because those properties are predicted to rise in value 15 per cent more than similar properties that aren`t near a station, he says.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

In conversation with Don Campbell





One of the biggest mistakes real estate professionals and consumers often make is gauging their actions against national reports about the state of the real estate market, says Vancouver`s Don Campbell. He says there is no Canadian real estate market and the sooner realtors understand that, the better.








`Everyone talks about Canadian average this and average that and average prices that are up or down 5 or 10 per cent,` says Campbell, a Canadian real estate investor, analyst and author. `It`s the equivalent of taking the temperature of everyone in the hospital and noticing that the average temperature is above 98.6 degrees and thinking everyone has a fever.`






National averages make zero sense, says Campbell. Instead, real estate professionals need to look at the trends in their city or town. `You might see in Windsor, the average price is down 18 to 20 per cent, while in Winnipeg, it`s up five to seven per cent so looking at the national average wouldn`t tell you if it`s good to buy in Winnipeg or Windsor.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

How walkable streets boost the economy




If you think about your favourite streets, the ones where you like to hang out and meet up with friends: the chances are that these types of street are walkable. Well it turns out that walkable streets are not only fun and exciting places to be, they are also incredibly profitable.







Research commissioned by the TfL Urban Design team has found that making a street more walkable can add up to Â30,000 to the average property price in that street. In one case study, they found that over Â9.5million had been added to local property prices by improving a street with:

• widened pavements;
• extra trees;
  improved lighting;
  new wayfinding signs.

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Shoppers like walkability

As well as house prices, the study also found a financial link between street walkability and shop rental values. This in turn reflects on the amount of money each shop could expect to make from being on that particular street. This may help to explain the current `gold-rush` of large supermarket chains building small grocery stores in walkable urban areas.







What is more, it seems that retailers aren`t just benefiting from walkable streets, they are willing to pay for improvements if it means more cash profits. In a `willingness to pay` survey of 400 high street retailers in London, they found that retailers were willing to make a one-off payment to improve their street if it increased profitability.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Poll: Commuting impacts job satisfaction





Only 11 per cent of workers opted for mass transit, 10 per cent said they walked to work and some people used more than one mode of transport to commute.







Fifteen per cent of people who took part in the online survey said they would change jobs for a shorter commute and 11 per cent said the time spent commuting had a negative impact on their life-work balance.







"Managers should be mindful of the time their employees spend commuting as our survey shows it has a significant impact on job satisfaction," said Maroney.







One-third of workers said their round-trip commute was between 30 minutes and an hour, while 16 per cent spent between one and two hours getting back and forth to work.



Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Safe as houses? That loud knocking is falling prices




The most enduring and simplistic argument for buying a house is that you`re making an investment.




What an understatement. Between your mortgage, property taxes, utility bills, maintenance, furnishings, renovations, landscaping and such, you`ll be investing non-stop in your home. But what`s the return on your money?





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Average Canadian house prices on the rise




House prices have increased significantly in almost all major cities across Canada over the past year







See the graph here.

 

[Ally]

Canada's jobs picture brightens in March



The number of available jobs for Canadians rose to their highest level of the year in March, signaling that the country's economy is shaking off the lasting effects of the recession.





The Conference Board of Canada said its Help-Wanted Index rose by 10.4 per cent to 125.3 ` its highest level since the group began collecting data in 2005.





The index has been gaining ground since the start of the year, but this latest jump was also the largest monthly increase so far.





It tracks the number of new, unduplicated jobs posted online during the month across almost 80 job-posting websites.





Earlier this month, Statistics Canada said the country shed 1,500 jobs in March, a stark contrast to analysts' expectations for employment growth in the range of 20,000 to 30,000 jobs for the same month.





Read the full article here.