Posts Tagged ‘affordability’
Posted by Norm Fisher on January 23, 2012
Housing affordability in Canada saw its greatest deterioration in years according to the 8th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey: 2012. Demographia’s estimates suggest that Canadian home buyers can expect to pay 4.5 times the country’s median income to purchase a home priced at the median,* a number which the survey authors consider “seriously unaffordable”. [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on November 28, 2011
RBC’s third quarter Housing Trends and Affordability study showed “modest improvements” in housing affordability for Canadians as global financial markets continued to face uncertainty and interest rates crept lower. The following is an excerpt from the report on Saskatchewan: Although RBC’s affordability measures for Saskatchewan continue to be above their long-term averages, widespread improvement was [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on October 13, 2011
From the Star Phoenix website today: “The Saskatchewan Party says a new tax credit for first-time homebuyers would make home ownership a little more affordable. On the campaign trail in Regina on Thursday, Premier Brad Wall pledged to introduce a non-refundable income tax credit to all first-time homebuyers that would result in an income tax [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on July 13, 2011
Subdued job and income growth, rising interest rates, the recent tightening in borrowing rules for insured mortgages and fewer first time buyers will set the stage for a decline in housing unit sales in most regions of Canada through 2012 and 2013, according to a report released by TD Economics today. TD is predicting a [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on July 10, 2011
The Royal LePage House Price Survey for the second quarter of 2011 has just been released. Here is the media release for the Saskatoon area. Second-quarter house prices in Saskatoon experienced little change over the same period last year, according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey released today. Second quarter sales volumes remain stable [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on February 25, 2011
Lower borrowing costs in the final quarter of 2010 helped drive a “modest” improvement to housing affordability for Canadians, even though house prices saw small increases across most of the nation during that time, a new report from RBC Economics states. The slight improvements are likely short lived as interest rates have recently started to [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on February 12, 2011
City council, this week, approved a new program that would provide down payment assistance to middle income renters. The objective of the program is to free up units in our low vacancy rental market while opening the door to home ownership for some who have the financial capability of servicing a mortgage but have not [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on February 5, 2011
Amidst a rising chorus of “soft landing” predictions for Canada’s housing markets, one Canadian economist, David Madani is singing a different tune that may or may not be music to your ears. Madani, in a report released this week titled, “Canada Economics Focus, house prices likely to fall for several years” says rising interest rates [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on January 29, 2011
Housing affordability in the Saskatoon area improved slightly for the second consecutive year, according to the 7th Annual Demographia Housing Affordability Survey, but not enough to remove it from the ranks of the most “seriously unaffordable” places to buy a home. According the Demographia’s estimates, Saskatoon home buyers can expect to pay 4.3 times the [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on January 9, 2011
You may recall, back in early September, while mentally struggling with the idea of rising average sale prices in a not so hot market, I resorted to some deep number crunching, as I often do, and realized for the first time this year that some real significant changes had started to occur. I pointed out [...]
Posted by Norm Fisher on November 29, 2010
RBC Economics released its Housing Trends and Affordability study this morning and reported improved affordability in all areas of the country. Here’s what they had to say about Saskatchewan, which saw “significant improvement,” albeit slightly less so than the national average. Spurred in part by a decline in homeownership costs, Saskatchewan home buyers resumed house [...]
