Canadian Housing Starts, October 2009 Results

Summary: Canadian housing starts trended upward in October, rising five per

cent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 157,300 units –

the highest level this year. Within the GTA, starts increased 13 per cent to a

seasonally adjusted annual rate of 34,200 units. The Canadian and GTA

increases were driven by starts for multiple-family dwellings, which rose 21.3

per cent in the GTA and 13.8 per cent nationally.

Analysis: The upward trend in housing starts makes sense when considered

alongside the general tightening in the Canadian existing home market over the

same period. When existing home sales increase strongly relative to listings,

which has been the case in many Canadian centres including the GTA, a

greater number of buyers looking to broaden their home ownership alternatives

start to spill over into the new home market. As long as tight market conditions

remain in place in the GTA and other Canadian centres, expect the recovery in

new home construction to continue. This will be beneficial to the Canadian

economy through the creation of well-paid construction trades jobs and through

considerable economic spin-offs to other sectors of the economy like

manufacturing and various professional services.

Source: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

Link to Release:

For CMHC’s GTA release:

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/press/2009/2009_11_09_0815_EOT.pdf

GTA Resale Housing Market Posts Best June on Record

TORONTO, July 6, 2009 - In June 2009, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported a record

10,955 sales, up 27 per cent from June 2008. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales in

June was 100,700.1

"The record result in June is testament to the fundamentally sound housing market in the GTA,"

said the Toronto Real Estate Board’s newly appointed President Tom Lebour. "An increasing

number of households have been confident in purchasing a home in the region’s affordable and

diverse resale housing market."

The average price for June transactions was $403,972 – up by two per cent compared to the

same month last year.

"The re-emergence of seller’s market conditions has exerted upward pressure on home prices,"

explained Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market Analysis. "Look for sales to remain

high relative to listings in the second half of the year. This will keep home prices growing."

1Seasonally adjusting TREB MLS® data removes recurring seasonal trends observed each year. For example, MLS® sales are highest in late

spring each year and lowest in the winter months. Removing the recurring seasonality, allows for the analysis of a meaningful trend reflecting

actual changes in market conditions. By multiplying the monthly seasonally-adjusted figure by 12, creating an annual rate, we can compare how

the current month relates to historical annual figures.

This Month In Real Estate (Canada): June 2009

Good decisions and great investments start with a good understanding of the market. This is the monthly edition of Canadian Real Estate news by Keller Williams Realty's stars, Jay Papasan and Bryon Ellington. Here is the video on the topic for this month.


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Toronto Ribfest 2009 - Centennial Park, Etobicoke

Canada Day Weekend at Centennial Park is the ideal setting for Ribfest. FREE Fireworks and
Entertainment at Centennial Park help to ensure that crowds will be large. Well in excess of
100,000 people attended last year. Most importantly, all proceeds go back into the community
through the 100% volunteer efforts of the Rotary Club of Etobicoke.

This is the largest festival of its kind in the Toronto area. Ribfest is a celebration of barbequed
ribs in which professional “Ribbers” travel the continent cooking-off and competing against
each other at all of the major outdoor celebrations.
Celebrate Canada Day Weekend with the best Ribbers from Canada and the United States.
Barbeque Ribs by some of North America’s best Ribbers.
Free Admission & Parking.
Kid’s Activities include carnival, pony rides, balloons, and more.
Beer & Wine Garden 2 concert stages now available!
Z103.5 Event Cruiser and free stuff!
Arts and Craft displays, along with many local vendors.
Fireworks on July 1, 2009 Canada Day (night).
Centennial Park Concert Stage with Live bands performing throughout
the event’s day and evening celebrations. Come see hot performers and
swinging bands!
Karaoke Event now featured.
The RIBFEST features 14 Ribbers for a 6-day competition
between American and Canadian Ribbers for the “Chief Hog” Trophy.
Kid’s YTV “Wow Truck” on June 29, June 30 and July 1, 2009.
GREAT FUN! GREAT FOOD! GREAT ENTERTAINMENT!

The Rotary Club of Etobicoke
Visit Websites: http://www.rotaryetobicoke.org/ • http://www.torontoribfest.com/

Silver Linings of Recovery in Sight

*Canada’s housing market is humming along with sales activity increasing 11% from the previous month, the largest monthly gain in more than five years. Low mortgage rates, improved affordability and greater choice of inventory have helped more renters become buyers. With sales activity rising strongly and new listings trending downward, Canada continues to move toward balanced supply and demand conditions.
Home building recorded its first broadly based increase since October last year, which is good news as this sector will hopefully cease to be such a drag on the economy. The housing market was not the only bright spot – the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said their composite leading indicator showed tentative signs of recovery in Canada. Their data indicates that Canada’s economy may be bottoming out and is likely to start heading up. Consumer confidence has been increasing for the last three months and currently stands at the highest level in 15 months.
The strengthening U.S. and international demand for manufactured and commodityrelated products should help lift Canada’s economy. However, a strengthening Loonie could serve as a counterinfluencing factor.

*Read the full report in PDF format by clicking on this text.(provided by Keller Williams Research, released June 11, 2009)

This Month In Real Estate (Canada): May 2009

Good decisions and great investments start with a good understanding of the market. This is the monthly edition of Canadian Real Estate news by Keller Williams Realty's stars, Jay Papasan and Bryon Ellington. Here is the video on the topic for this month.

This Month In Real Estate (Canada): April 2009

Good decisions and great investments start with a good understanding of the market. This is the monthly edition of Canadian Real Estate news by Keller Williams Realty's stars, Jay Papasan and Bryon Ellington. Here is the video on the topic for this month.

A pledge to save the Earth.

Happy Earth Day!


Did you know that if every household in the U.S. replaced one light bulb with a Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb (CFL), it would prevent enough pollution to equal removing one million cars from the road?

What is you pledge to save the earth going to be? Find more information about CFL and other ways to help reduce your contrubution to global warming on the Earthdaynetwork's website. Cick here.

Selling your home? Let's put on a show!

You know that spring is in the air when you wake up and look outside and say “wow, the weather is beautiful!”. Immediately you begin to plan your camping trip for the coming May 24th weekend, begin to think about taking the kids to Canada’s Wonderland (if you have any kids yet), maybe even plan to work on your tan in the backyard!
What if you’re planning to move closer to work, or upgrade your home by the fall? Then selling your home is on your mind as well. And I’m sure that you don’t want this project to take away much of your time this summer in order for you to make memories with your family and friends.
Before you think about having your Realtor’s (Kris Abouzeki, Realtor) “For Sale” sign go up in the front yard, you need to seriously consider staging you home. Home staging is a proven successful marketing tool when it comes to sell a house on the open market. Are you still thinking about working on that tan?
AHA...the backyard it is. Let’s start there, in the backyard. Take out the rake, collect all the winter debris from the lawn, work your way around to the front yard, this will help control thatch build-up and dead grass blades (which eventually turn into thatch). Raking will get your lawn to look clean, and now you might want to consider liming, aerating if there are signs of compaction, overseeding, fertilizing (I like mulching lawn mowers as they leave behind a natural fertilizer), pulling weeds (remember pesticides are banned in Toronto! Or pay a $250 fine and develop Parkinson’s disease down the road :( ). Next, plant flowers, prune those shrubs and rose bushes, and sweep the driveway (or power wash, my favorite).
Your hard work pays off as the yard is taken care of, and you’ve covered the basics of creating curb appeal while getting a tan!
You have a tan, the house looks good from the curb, but you still want to sell it as quickly as possible and maximize the price it sells for. Now is the time to have a staging professional pop by for a visit.
Find a Canadian Staging Professional™ in your area by visiting the Canadian Staging Professionals website. Click here!

Toronto housing market is holding grounds during recession

According to the Toronto Real Estate Board's March/2009 Market Watch report, the situation in the housing market has improved over the past 2 months, a healthy rebound displayed through an increase of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales by 36% from a 10 year low reached in 01/2009.
Read the full report by clicking here

Skateboarding park development in South Etobicoke - Lakeshore

I am thrilled about the City of Toronto plan for the development of a new skate park in South Etobicoke. These are the types of projects that I personally would like to see take place especially during this complicated recession. The benefits are unlimited and perpetual, stemming from healthy living to self development and community building, etc.. Jason Duck of etobigo.ca is doing a great job covering this project, read his coverage of the most recent community consultation meeting at the following link: Skate Park development in South Etobicoke

This Month in Real Estate (Canada): March 2009

Good decisions and great investments start with a good understanding of the market. This is the monthly edition of Canadian Real Estate news by Keller Williams Realty's stars, Jay Papasan and Bryon Ellington. Here is the video on the topic for this month.

This Month In Real Estate (Canada): January 2009

Good decisions and great investments start with a good understanding of the market. This is the monthly edition of Canadian Real Estate news by Keller Williams Realty's stars, Jay Papasan and Bryon Ellington. Here is the video on the topic.

"Economic data Feb 10th 2009 From the Economist Intelligence Unit: Canada"

• The Conservative government and the prime minister, Stephen Harper, face possible defeat at the hands of a coalition of the three largest opposition parties. However, the Economist Intelligence Unit expects the government's revised budget proposal to settle their opponents by increasing spending commitments and tax cuts, and the coalition will dissolve for now. The Liberals will then return to building support under their new leader, Michael Ignatieff, as the Tories struggle to deal with the recession and a growing fiscal deficit. By mid-2009 the Liberals will again join forces with the other opposition parties to force another election, which they will win.
• One foreign policy priority for the Conservatives has been to repair strained relations with the US, and this will continue under a Liberal government in the second half of 2009. Growing US protectionism will continue to affect trade, as the US economy slows and unemployment rises, and continuing security concerns will keep border controls tight. However, US-Canada trade links are very important to both, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that binds them will be unaffected.
• The general government finances will move into deficit in 2009 and 2010, as the economy weakens and spending increases, and will not return to surplus over the forecast period. The Bank of Canada (the central bank) will cut interest rates again in early 2009, mindful of the deflationary impact of the global financial crisis, before raising them again from the first quarter of 2010 as the economy begins to recover.
• Canada’s long-term economic fundamentals remain strong, but the economy will contract in 2009, weighed down by the continuing recession in the US and other key developed-world export markets. Weak external demand will affect the domestic labour market and lead to a sharp increase in unemployment, and subdue private consumption growth. The previously buoyant commodity sector has also been hit hard by falling prices, but will strengthen in 2011 and help fuel a pick-up in investment and private consumption in 2011-13.
• The current-account balance will move into deficit in 2009, driven by a narrowing trade surplus as export markets contract and commodity prices remain weak. The Canadian dollar will stay weak in the first half of 2009 and provide some assistance to exporters, as global deleveraging and soft commodity prices reduce demand for Canadian assets, but it will strengthen in 2010-13.

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