How the recession changed us
Below is a very cool graph on how the worst recession of our life times has changed the American life-style. Click on it to make it nice and big.
ORES Real Estate Index For January 2011
COMMENT: This is a very cool index I found that compares most investments to real estate. It is interesting right now as gold is at an all time high, oil is back up and Canadian real estate has held most of its value and is coming back.
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 10:09
Brian Madigan LL.B.
Here is the “ORES REAL ESTATE INDEX” which tracks the average resale prices of single family homes and condominiums in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). It also tracks certain benchmark comparisons such as the price of oil and gold, as well as the Consumer Price Index.
One guys thoughts on the Western Economies
If you are a student of economics then this is “interesting.” If not then it will make no sense at all.
I think he is accurate in summarizing where “hidden inflation” will come from at the end of the post.
‘Window closing’ on ultra-low mortgage rates
Tim Shufelt, Financial Post · Monday, Feb. 7, 2011
Amid the noise of volatile-but-improving economic indicators, mortgage rate hikes are likely to repeat like a chorus in the coming months.
Canadian banks are raising interest rates on mortgages, marking the beginning of a trend as they correlate with rising bond yields and expected monetary tightening.
ALBERTA’S ECONOMY SET FOR STRONG GROWTH IN 2011 WITH BOOST FROM ENERGY SECTOR: RBC ECONOMICS
Comment – this is some of the data that was used in my MARKet Update / Buyers Report. Feel free to download it for free on my site here: http://markherman.ca/Rate2.ubr
ALBERTA’S ECONOMY SET FOR STRONG GROWTH IN 2011 WITH BOOST FROM ENERGY SECTOR: RBC ECONOMICS
Real gross domestic product rose 0.4% in November
Real gross domestic product rose 0.4% in November after growing by 0.2% in October. Oil and gas extraction led the way in November, followed by wholesale and retail trade, real estate and the finance and insurance sector. Manufacturing declined, largely as a result of temporary plant shutdowns for retooling in the motor vehicle assembly industry and shift reductions in the motor vehicle parts industry. Construction also decreased.
Canadians Better Off, Even If They Don’t Feel It
Comment – Politics aside, we are coming off of the worst economic recession of our lifetimes. Numbers below show us back to where we were before the recession started. Governments debt loads are supposed to be high, government spending was supposed to kick in to keep us going – and it did.
Intra-provincial migration at 20-year high
Comment: This is exactly what started the boom in Calgary in 2006 when 25,000 people moved into town from all over Canada. This should drive the rental market vacancy rate down and increase rental prices. Then it will be more affordable to buy and the slack in the market will slowly get taken up; supporting home prices.
Top 10 Effects Of The New Mortgage Rules
We may not go 10 for 10, but crystal ball-gazing is fun nonetheless.
In this humble of spirits, we present ten trends to watch out for in 2011, courtesy of Flaherty & Co.’s new mortgage regime:
Canada Prime Stays at
Consumer Prime is at 3%. At it will stay the same as well. Nice break for us after the gov’t changes the mortgage rules the day before.
As most predicted it would, the Bank of Canada announced today it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at one per cent.