Bank of Canada slash rates

KEVIN CARMICHAEL Globe and Mail UpdateMarch 4, 2008 at 9:12 AM ESTOTTAWA —
The Bank of Canada dropped its key lending rate by half a percentage point, and indicated that further cuts will be needed to insulate Canada from the effects of a U.S. economy that teeters on the brink of recession.“The deterioration in economic and financial conditions in the United States can be expected to have significant spillover effects on the global economy,” the central bank said in its statement Tuesday.“Further monetary stimulus is likely to be required in the near term to keep aggregate supply and demand in balance and to achieve the 2 per cent inflation target over the medium term”, the bank said.Mark Carney's first policy decision as governor left the Bank of Canada's benchmark interest rate at 3.5 per cent. The central bank last reduced borrowing costs by a half point in November 2001 and has adjusted interest rates by that magnitude only four times since moving to a fixed announcement schedule in March 2000.Mr. Carney and his five deputies on the Governing Council next fix interest rates on April 22.The decision by the central bank to get more aggressive after quarter-point reductions in December and January shows policy makers doubt Canada's strong domestic economy will hold up next to weaker demand from the country's largest trading partner.Canada's gross domestic product grew 0.8 per cent in the fourth quarter, the slowest in 4 ½ years and half as much as the Bank of Canada was expecting. The U.S. economy, which consumes some 80 per cent of Canada's exports, was even weaker in the fourth quarter, advancing at a 0.6 per cent annual rate.“There are clear signs the U.S. economy is likely to experience a deeper and more prolonged slowdown than had been projected in January,” the central bank said in the statement, citing the housing market, which is suffering the biggest collapse in generation. “These developments suggest that important downside risks to Canada's economic outlook that were identified in (January) are materializing and, in some respects, intensifying.” The Bank of Canada sets interest rates to keep inflation advancing at about 2 per cent a year, and uses a measure that strips out volatile prices such as energy to predict where costs are heading.Canada's core rate of inflation was 1.4 per cent, leaving plenty of room for today's half-point cut, economists said before the announcement.While conceding that Canada's domestic demand remains “buoyant” and that companies were producing above capacity, policy makers determined the bigger worry is economy won't generate enough activity to keep inflation at its 2 per cent target.“The bank now judges that the balance of risks around its January projection for inflation has clearly shifted to the downside,” the Bank of Canada said.

Residential Real Estate Decade in Review

Residential real estate markets across Canada post solid gains over the past decade says RE/MAX
Kelowna, BC (February 21, 2008) – Pent-up demand, population growth, tight inventory levels, and the longest economic expansion since World War II collectively fueled one of the best decades on record for residential real estate in Canada, according to a report released today by RE/MAX. RE/MAX Decade in Review 1997 - 2007 found that major housing centres across the country experienced strong consecutive growth between 1997 and 2007. Average price spiraled upward while unit sales climbed in tandem as more and more Canadians bought into homeownership. Nationally, average price almost doubled in the 10-year period, rising from $154,606 in 1997 to $307,265 in 2007, for a 7.1 per cent annually compounded rate of return. Home sales across the country increased just over 57 per cent from 331,092 units in 1997 to more than half a million sales last year. Edmonton led the country in terms of percentage increase in average price. The city saw a 203 per cent upswing in housing values - or an 11.7 per cent increase annually - with average price rising from $111,587 a decade ago to $338,636 in 2007. Prince Edward Island experienced the highest percentage increase in unit sales, with the number of homes sold up 119 per cent in the 10-year period.
“Immigration and in-migration have played a serious role in jumpstarting residential housing markets, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta, and to some extent, Saskatchewan over the past decade,” says Elton Ash, Executive Regional Vice President, RE/MAX of Western Canada. “At first, there was an influx of American buyers, especially in Canada’s coastal regions and recreational hot spots, as our southern neighbours took advantage of the almighty US greenback. Then the European and Middle Eastern purchasers flooded the market, buying up real estate considered ‘cheap’ by international standards. In recent years, there have been a growing number of purchasers from Mainland China. From a global perspective, there’s no question that Canadian real estate brings good value to the table.” Percentage increases in home sales varied across the country, with Prince Edward Island experiencing the greatest upswing over the past decade, followed by St. John’s at 106 per cent, Kelowna at 84 per cent, and Saint John at 77 per cent. Most markets (12 of the 19 surveyed) reported increases between 40 and 60 per cent. Average price has also seen substantial escalation over the 10-year period, with posted gains ranging from a low of 54.4 per cent in London-St.Thomas to a high of 203 per cent in Edmonton. Appreciation in Western Canadian markets surpassed all others between 1997 and 2007, with Calgary ranking second in terms of price appreciation at 189 per cent, Kelowna at 179 per cent, Saskatoon at 137 per cent, Winnipeg at 118 per cent, Victoria at 114 per cent and Greater Vancouver at 99 percent.
In 2006,homeownership rates in the country were the highest on record at 68.4 per cent. Population growth has contributed to heated market conditions – especially in Calgary (+31.4 per cent), Edmonton (+20 per cent), Toronto (+20 per cent), and Vancouver (+15 per cent) where percentage increases have hovered in the double-digit range. Overall, Canada’s population rose to almost 33 million in the 2006 census, up approximately 10 per cent from 1996 figures. “The non-cyclical nature of the decade comes as some surprise,” says Michael Polzler, Executive Vice President and Regional Director, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. “Never before have we seen such a continuous run up in Canadian real estate. Clearly, strength in all markets has been directly linked to solid growth in local, provincial and national economies. Low interest rates, job security, and consumer confidence have all served to further bolster home-buying activity across the nation.” Robust economic performance in Western Canada has also drawn job seekers from across the country, looking to capitalize on employment opportunities. As demand for housing increased across the country, the supply of homes listed for sale began to contract. Multiple offers were commonplace in many areas, some with sales-to-listings ratios as tight as 80 to 90 per cent. Nationally, 1997 marked the first year since 1988 that the sales-to-listings ratio hit 50 per cent. The sales-to-listings ratio would remain above 60 per cent from 2001 onward – rising to as high as 68 per cent in 2002. The decade was not without its obstacles – the high-tech meltdown, a US recession, 9/11, SARS, Mad Cow, a blackout that affected the entire Northeastern seaboard, natural disasters such as ice storms, hurricanes, and forest fires and more recently, the credit crunch south of the border. Given the continuation of sound economic fundamentals, it’s expected that residential real estate markets across the country will continue to experience healthy activity, albeit at a more moderate pace.


RE/MAX is Canada's leading real estate organization with over 17,600 sales associates in more than 650 independently-owned and operated offices. The RE/MAX franchise network is a global real estate system operating in over 65 countries. More than 7,000 independently-owned offices engage nearly 115,000 member sales associates who lead the industry in professional designations, experience and production while providing real estate services in residential, commercial, referral and asset management. For more information, visit: www.remax.ca.

raise awareness of Women and Heart disease

Please take a minute to go to this website and click. For each person that clicks, Campbells soup will donate one dollar to heart disease in women..... http://www.goredwithcampbells.com/

Smallest house in Toronto is for sale!

The Smallest House In Toronto is up for SALE! Listed at 173000 the 'The Little House' is Completely Re-Done Top-To-Bottom, Front-To-Back! The house which looks minitaure in size is actually average size. The house is approx 300 feet and the lot is 7.23 ft wide by 113.67

2008 to bring balance to the Fraser Valley Real Estate Market

Curious what 2008 holds for the Fraser Valley Real Estate Market? Projections for the Fraser Valley has house prices still rising but a slower pace than we have seen in the past few years. Read the following excerpt from the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board.

Fraser Valley and Greater Vancouver are projected to see another solid year in real estate in 2008, continuing the trend towards greater selection, prices still rising but at a slower pace and demand for more affordable attached homes remaining high.
For the Fraser Valley, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) forecasts an average residential price increase of 6 per cent to $455,000 in 2008 with the average price of detached homes projected to rise by 6 per cent, attached (i.e. townhouses) by 8 per cent and apartments by 7 per cent. It projects residential sales on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) to be 16,250 this year. To put that in perspective, Fraser Valley residential sales reached 15,103 in 2002, the first year of the current real estate cycle. For 2007, residential sales reached 17,888.
In November, Fraser Valley saw a 16 per cent increase in active listings compared to the selection available during the same month one year ago. Cameron Muir, BCREA’s chief economist, projects listing volumes will continue to increase in the Valley resulting in, “Less upward pressure on prices, reducing the number of multiple offers and giving consumers and members more time for comparison and negotiation.”
He adds that although Fraser Valley’s average home price is still more than $250,000 less than in Greater Vancouver, significant price increases over the last few years have eroded affordability and have impacted consumer demand, most noticeably in east Fraser Valley.
Still, Muir says consumer confidence in the Lower Mainland remains high, “Despite some challenges in the economy such as the high Canadian dollar, we have strong job growth, wages rising higher than inflation and mortgage rates are expected to edge down in the first half of 2008.”
BCREA projects housing starts in the Abbotsford Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) will increase by 4 per cent in 2008 with apartment and townhouse construction comprising nearly 60 per cent of construction activity in the CMA. Muir indicates that a number of large multiple projects are planned for Abbotsford this year, including at least one high-rise residential tower.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), echoing BCREA, says Abbotsford’s average home prices will increase faster than in the rest of the Fraser Valley, projecting a 10 per cent average increase in 2008. It attributes escalating single detached home prices in Abbotsford to many buyers looking for less expensive multiple family style homes – therefore, demand will be high for attached properties. Muir explains the trend towards apartments and townhomes isn’t unique to Abbotsford, forecasting that densification will continue in Surrey, South Surrey and Langley as buyers look to more affordable options.
For Greater Vancouver, CMHC projects an average residential price increase of 9 per cent, with the price of detached homes projected to rise by 10 per cent, townhomes by 9 per cent and condos by 8 per cent.
Overall, experts predict continued stability in Fraser Valley’s 2008 housing market with the resale market remaining sound, new construction at a steady level and hot demand for rental and apartment units, all due to underlying strong economic fundamentals.

"Copyright Fraser Valley Real Estate Board. Reprinted with permission."

Happy New Year

HAPPY
NEW YEAR!

Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2008!

Helpful home tips

Here are a few handy home tips for the holiday season:

Icing: when you use a container of store bought icing, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. This way you can ice twice the cupcakes and eat less sugar and calories per serving.
Easy deviled eggs: put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Close and mash the yolks. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal and mash it up till it is mixed thoroughly. Cut the tip of the corner of the zip lock off. You now have an easy piping bag- just squeeze the mixture into the egg and throw out the bag when done- Easy clean-up!
Red Wine: salt is great for "holding" red wine at bay until the item can be washed.