January 2014 Canadian Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Real estate market predictions for 2014





It`s bad news for first time home buyers: real estate prices this year look like they`re moving in the upwards direction. But it`s not all doom and gloom. If you happen to be selling your home this will likely be a good year for you.








As we usher in the new year I see some changes on the horizon. Here are my predictions for Canadian real estate in 2014.





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[Ally]

Canadian home prices return to record high





Canadian home prices ticked back up to a record high in December, thanks entirely to Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto, according to the Teranet-National Bank house price index.








The 0.1-percent rise in home prices in December reversed a 0.1-percent decline in November, and returned the index to its all-time high.





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[Ally]

Sears Canada to cut more than 1,600 jobs





TORONTO (Reuters) - Sears Canada Inc (SCC.TO: Quote) plans to cut more than 1,600 jobs, or more than 7 percent of it workforce, this year as it reorganizes and outsources some of its business, the struggling department store operator said on Wednesday.






Sears Canada, controlled by Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O: Quote), said it signed an agreement with IBM Corp (IBM.N: Quote) to take over work currently handled internally, a move that affects 1,345 jobs at three call centers over the next nine months.





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[Ally]

Canada has one of the world's highest rates of overqualified workers





Statistics Canada's latest labour force survey points to a softening in the job market.





Across many advanced economies, employment has been slow to recover from the punishing blow delivered by the 2008-09 recession, with young adults in particular shouldering much of the burden.





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[Ally]

Lower Canadian dollar carries mixed blessings: BMO Economics





TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 16, 2014) - While the sudden turnabout in the Canadian dollar's fortunes may be nerve-wracking, there are some positives that will benefit various sectors in the economy, according to BMO Economics. After declining 6.6 per cent in 2013 - its second biggest annual fall in the past 15 years - the Canadian dollar has dropped another 3 per cent in just the first two weeks of 2014. An exceptionally weak employment report for December took the loonie decisively below 92 cents for the first time since September 2009.





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[Ally]

Soaring Canadian real estate prices worry bankers





Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's housing prices continued to surge in December, according to the latest figures released Wednesday, after warnings by bankers of an overheated real estate market and record-high debts.








The Canadian Real Estate Association announced in its monthly report that the national average sale price of a home rose 10.4 percent year-over-year in December.





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[Ally]

Talk of rising interest rates no reason for homeowners to panic





TORONTO - Talk of rising interest rates tend to make homeowners jittery and, if you have a big mortgage, you may be feeling extra nervous.








But while Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz may have made some people uneasy when he spoke in a televised interview last week about the likelihood of rising long-term fixed rates, experts say not to panic.





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[Ally]

Avison Young releases 2014 commercial real estate forecast for Canada, U.S.





TORONTO, Jan. 16, 2014 /CNW/ ` Canada`s commercial real estate markets experienced some changes in 2013 that could pose challenges in 2014. However, ongoing development is an encouraging sign that the markets remain strong, offering opportunities for occupiers, owners and investors. In the U.S., although delayed by a year due to political gridlock, the return to normal operating conditions and the reduction of monetary easing due to tapering are the catalysts necessary to unlock the capital that has been building up on the balance sheets of investors and occupiers.





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[Ally]

Why the odds are increasing for Keystone XL pipeline approval





The U.S. State Department is expected to release a final environmental impact report around the last week of January that will support the Keystone XL, bolstering the odds that President Barack Obama will approve the controversial Alberta-to-Texas oil pipeline.





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[Ally]

New suburbansim: Reinventing inner-ring suburbs





As inner-ring suburbs in the United States become denser, demand for access to nearby walkable urban environments is rising. Residents are looking for shorter driving distances to commercial, cultural, leisure, and work opportunities. Municipalities are also interested in promoting compact development near transit. As a result, the next big wave of development will focus on creating nodes of mixed-use infill projects in these suburbs.





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[Ally]

Weak Canadian dollar provides catalyst for long Canada, short U.S. energy trade





Canaccord Genuity is recommending investors go long on three large-cap Canadian energy stocks and short the three U.S. exploration and production companies.





Strategist Martin Roberge highlighted Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., MEG Energy Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. as the Canadian names most sensitive to heavy oil differentials, while the largest U.S. E&Ps ` ConocoPhillips, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and EOG Resources Inc. ` are his short candidates.





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[Ally]

Sellers expected to benefit in strong spring housing market





Real estate agency Royal LePage is expecting Canada's housing market to shift in favour of sellers in the first half of this year, and is forecasting a strong spring.





The agency, which represents more than 15,000 Canadian real estate agents and is part of Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc., is also predicting that house prices will maintain their momentum.





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[Ally]

Does it make more financial sense to own a condo or rent an apartment?





For many people, it is more advantageous to own rather than rent property. Over time, the value of property appreciates, and equity in the property increases as monthly mortgage payments gradually reduce the principal amount of the mortgage. Renters, in contrast, pay a set monthly amount to the owner for use of the space. Instead of building their own equity in the rented property, they are helping the apartment building owner build equity.





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[Ally]

New website gives homebuyers and investors more information about listings and neighbourhoods





Online PR News ` 19-January-2014 `New real estate website was just launched that will give homebuyers and investors much more information about their potential new neighbourhood and listing than ever before. This Real Estate Search Engine has a listings database in Lower Mainland bigger than Realtor.ca (All MLS listings from all brokerages + New Construction)





The new website, www.estateblock.com not only has a listings database in Lower Mainland bigger than Realtor.ca (All MLS listings + All New Developments) but also differs from most other sites, because it includes comprehensive information that is not available on competitor sites. Many home buyers are looking for not just listing information, but also want to know which schools are in the area and how they are ranked, the crime rates in their desired neighbourhood, demographics data, nearby shops, daycares, groceries, banks and transportation information.





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[Ally]

Royal Bank quietly cuts some mortgage rates





Royal Bank of Canada, the country`s largest mortgage lender, has quietly cut some of its mortgage rates this weekend. The move appears to be part of a broader dip in rates, although economists generally still expect an increase in 2014.





Five-year fixed mortgage rates rose industry-wide for much of 2013, from their low of 2.64 per cent in April to their high of 3.39 per cent in September, according to Alyssa Richard, the chief executive officer of RateHub.ca. They edged down a bit later in the fall but had generally been steady at around 3.25 per cent since then.





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[Ally]

2014 may be the year global business puts the financial crisis behind them





Companies around the world are starting to share the exuberance that inspired investors last year.





As executives gather in Davos, Switzerland, this week for the World Economic Forum`s annual meeting, business confidence is rising, with a weekly gauge compiled by Moody`s Analytics Inc. at its highest level since the survey began in 2003.





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[Ally]

Canadian insurers shelled out a record $3.2 billion last year from Alberta flooding, eastern ice storm





Canadian insurance companies paid a record $3.2 billion to claimants last year as the country coped with weather-related disasters, an industry group said.








The ice storm in December in southern Ontario and eastern Canada led to $200 million in payout, according to a statement issued today by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, capping a year when insured losses due to weather were more than triple the average of the past four years.





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[Ally]

How factory-built homes are shedding their 'cheap' label and exploding in popularity





After more than three decades in her Toronto bungalow amid growing mildew problems in the 1940s-era home, Ruth Wiens decided it was to start fresh.








She still loved her East York neighbourhood, so the IT professional decided to demolish her existing house and build a two-storey, three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot home from scratch.





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[Ally]

Here we go again with dropping mortgage rates





TORONTO ` Falling bonds yields could push mortgage rates lower in coming weeks as banks compete in the spring housing market, traditionally the strongest real estate period of the year.








Rob McLister, editor of Canadian Mortgage Trends, reported on his website Monday that Royal Bank of Canada had dropped its deep discounted rate on its fixed, closed five-year mortgage to 3.69%. It was just a 10 basis-point cut, but with the way bond yields have started to drop since the beginning of the year, the question is whether there is more to come.





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[Ally]

Generation, Why?





Despite all the financial obstacles they face, young adults have been eager believers in home ownership. Now, they're thinking more critically about houses.








That's the sense you get from the twentysomethings in Richard Harris's fourth-year urban housing class in the geography program at McMaster University in Hamilton. For the second year in a row, Prof. Harris has given his students a fall assignment to construct an argument for either buying a home or renting.





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