Housing

Demographics have been a tailwind for the housing market increasing the pool of potential first buyers on the order of roughly 250,000 households per year since 2010. An analysis of the situation below shows that the strong demographic tailwind in the housing market should continue through 2020, and thereafter, while not turning into a headwind, gradually subside through roughly 2025.

On a real basis, Canadian housing prices experienced a much smaller, shorter decrease in prices during the financial crisis and a much larger, longer increase in prices during the recovery. When you couple this unfathomable rise in housing prices with near-record high household debt-to-income ratios, the Canadian housing bubble starts to look scary should the tide turn. No one knows when insanity like this will come to an end. Bubbles are like an avalanche", the longer they build up, the worse they will be when they eventually destabilize but it most likely will be the result of higher rates

The monthly S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices were released earlier this week, and below we provide a look at the results so you can see how real estate prices are doing in your area of the country...

US real estate prices just passed their previous price peak for the first time since 2006. They are increasing slower than they were pre-Great Recession, but still very fast.

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) quarterly review of central banks is an exhaustive assessment of banking indicators looking for any signs that could lead to stress at domestic banks and Canada is now flashing a warning signal for all four categories, which would typically lead to a financial crisis.

Investing in a property can be exciting, but taking the time to properly analyze your deal is paramount. In some cases, what may seem like a good deal at first glance may actually cause financial pitfalls long-term. Similarly, when comparing two or more possible investment opportunities, one property may seem to offer a great investment up front, while the other actually offers the best return over time. In order to uncover the best possible investment deals, commit the following real estate investing calculations to memory:

Every year, UBS publishes the Global Real Estate Bubble Index, and the most recent edition shows several key markets in bubble territory.

Real estate ‘values’ will drop 50% in cities such as Toronto, Vancouver and San Francisco and 25% in many other cities around the world. Here's why.

Whether you "own" or rent in the U.S. or Canada the following articles from under the radar will enlighten you on what is going on with real estate these days.

...The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) House Price-To-Rent Index, and a linear regression model...predicts Canadian real estate prices will fall 28% by 2020. Here are the details.