Canada’s Property Market Conditions in 2009
Published on Monday, March 23rd, 2009
Whilst property market news for the UK continues to be all doom and gloom, there are other first world property markets that have yet to feel the full effects of the global recession you know!
Property in Canada saw growth of around 10% per annum between 2002 and 2007 for example, and whilst property appreciation has slowed and buyers are becoming scarcer because of lack of financing, the market in Canada continues to remain relatively stable with price falls of only around 5% being predicted for 2009.
The falls are being viewed by Scotiabank more as a cyclical downturn relating to the fact that there is currently greater supply of property stock than demand from buyers, rather than the fall being linked to recessionary fears or sub-prime lending problems. What’s more, the current down cycle is predicted to be less severe than other down cycles in the last few decades. Here we provide a review of Canada’s property market conditions for 2009 for prospective buyers, vendors or investors.
According to a leading economist and property strategist, the state of the Canadian housing market differs significantly from that in the UK and the US, and as a result it’s apparently fair to say that the Canadian property market is dropping but not crashing.
The latest news from the Knight Frank Global House Price Index is that property prices in Canada have started to fall quite fast, and their findings are backed up by the Canadian Real Estate Association which is currently showing that median values have dropped from CAD 312,024 in October 2007 to CAD 281,133 in October 2008.
Whether you’re emigrating permanently to Canada or you’re moving to the nation on a fixed term contract, it can make a great deal of sense to rent a property before even considering purchasing a home.
Apologies in advance and all round for producing another article about property in Canada just a day after our report on the transparency and fundamental strength of the nation’s real estate market, but there were five other salient points that really needed to be made. These are five reasons why the experts believe Canada’s property market won’t crash.
If you take a moment to think about the following, you will find it is surprisingly true – in the face of news about crashing housing markets all over the world where the likes of the UK, the US and European countries such as Spain are heavily cited, there is no mention anywhere of ongoing issues of any sort in the Canadian real estate market. No one is talking down property in Canada or even the Canadian economy as a whole, so could it be that there is a corner of the world where the global fiscal crisis is having no impact at all?
When you’re buying a property abroad there is so much to think about - from location to pool size, rental income potential to instructing a solicitor to do your searches - but the number one aspect on most people’s minds from the word go is the fiscal one. This is of course compounded because you’re buying in a foreign currency.
As the Canadian property market continues to boom, even relatively remote areas are experiencing growth. If buying property in Canada appeals to you, and off the beaten track also sounds good, Saskatoon might be a place to look for Canadian real estate.
