Housing

"Ben Bernanke is trying like mad to stimulate credit and lending but to no avail. It's an uphill battle because of demographics, student debt, and lack of jobs. [Frankly however, given such an environment,] prospects for family formation are fundamentally very weak and overall economic fundamentals are very weak as well" [and that certainly does not bode well for housing coming back anytime soon. Let me explain.] >Michael "Mish" Shedlock< (http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com)Words: 650

We are currently seeing bullish indicators regarding housing demand coupled with bearish indicators regarding housing prices. Let's take a look at the past relationship between house demand and house prices and see what it suggests for the future in real estate prices. Words: 450

Given the global economic backdrop, and in particular the sharp correction in energy prices to which Canada is highly exposed, the risks of a Canadian housing correction are rising. Home prices, which corrected about 10% during the recession, have surged again, making household balance sheets look increasingly fragile. Economists are becoming concerned. [Should Canadians be worried too? Let's review the situation.] Words: 280

Auto sales, consumer confidence, manufacturing, retail sales, exports - you name it - over the last six months, nearly every facet of the U.S. economy has shown improvement and the real estate market is no exception. [Here are 11 irrefutable signs that such is the case.] Words: 800

If you have been on the fence trying to decide if you should rent or buy, the market may be in your favor. According to Trulia's Winter 2012 Rent vs. Buy Index it is now cheaper to buy a home rather than rent in 98 of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. How can that be? Take a look!

Canadians are becoming increasingly vulnerable to a housing correction, exposing them to a perfect storm of high debt and falling assets, the Bank of Canada warns...suggesting that many Canadians have constructed their finances on a house of cards, with ever rising home values the key and vulnerable support. [Sound familiar?] Words: 770

The ownership premium in Canada's largest cities is unprecedented, dangerous to new buyers, and unlikely to persist - and if analogies to the U.S. situation at its peak back in 2005 are at all valid, this is bad news. [Let me explain.] Words: 430

There has been a deluge of articles recently about the upticks in the housing data...[yet, while] I do not dispute the improvement in the data regarding home starts, permits, pending sales, etc.,... [see graph below] these data points are still mired at very depressed levels so the assumption is that if home building is stabilizing then it is only a function of time until home prices began to rise as well. Right? Not so fast.. [Let me explain.] Words: 1100

The following charts indicate relative performance of US home prices in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and Miami to Canadian home prices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. US home prices are reflected in Canadian dollars for comparison purposes. Words: 240

Canada, France and Switzerland stood alone among nine markets measured in recording annual price gains, based on second-quarter data, with inflation-adjusted price increases of 5%, 5% and 4%, respectively, compared to declines of 6% in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, 10% in Spain and 14% in Ireland. In fact, Canada's home prices have escalated 44% since 2005 - with a high of 68% in Vancouver - and they are up 7.7% in the past 12 months! Words: 1244