Lately, I've focused a lot of energy the past few blog entries about real estate market prices. This month the Conference Board of Canada released a report entitled, "Housing Briefing: Bubble Fears Overblown." The Conference Board (CBOC) is an Ottawa based think thank that is comprised by the heads of the largest public and private organizations in Canada. The CBOC provides analytical services to the public and private sectors. In the report, the CBOC states that Canadian real estate market is not over-built and overvalued (apart from Toronto being overbuilt). They argue that the market the past tree years is in line with the 20 year average.
I do agree that I don't foresee a crash either but I still do think that the average Canadian is financially stretched. Yes, I agree with the CBOC report that defaults still remain relatively low but in Canada the homeowner or real estate investors has a few options at their disposal in refinancing and transferring properties that may skew default stats. If people are stretched now then perhaps we haven't fully seen the pricing adjustment? Just a thought...
The CBOC states that Montreal is "Flirting with buyer's market conditions with sales and average prices having dropped somewhat last year." We shall see how 2014 continues to evolve especially post-Quebec election. Stay tuned folks.
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