Home ownership becomes more expensive in third quarter

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO - The cost of homeownership in Canada became more expensive in the third quarter, according to a report by RBC Economics Research.
The bank says this hasn't happened since the spring of 2008 and was due to a slight rise in mortgage rates and higher property values. The RBC index measures the proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home.
During the third quarter, the benchmark detached bungalow moved up by one per cent to 40.2 per cent and the standard townhouse rose by 0.7 per cent to 32.3 per cent.
The standard condo climbed by 0.5 per cent up to 27.6 per cent and a standard two-storey home increased 1.2 per cent to 45.8 per cent.
RBC says housing demand has outgrown supply, leading to a more competitive market and widespread increases in home values.
"With such strong momentum in the housing market and the cyclical low in mortgage rates behind us, it seems unlikely that affordability will improve in the near future," said RBC senior economist Robert Hogue.
"The housing market still faces obstacles, as mortgages have become more difficult to handle for many Canadians amid challenging labour conditions. This is likely to persist until the economic recovery is well established and job creation is sustained next year."

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Demand kicks up new-home building

Supply Shortage
Garry Marr, Financial Post Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009


The Canadian housing market's surprising turnaround is spreading to new-home construction as developers scramble to respond to a supply shortage that has sent pricing soaring for existing homes.

But any increase in construction of new homes will likely not surface fast enough to feed the demand for housing still pumped up by record low interest rates.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday 157,300 units were built last month on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, a 5.4% increase from a month earlier. Annualized starts dropped as low as 118,500 in April.

"There is not a lot of inventory around," said Gary Friend, president of the Canadian Home Builders' Association, adding his industry has been careful not to speculate. "We have to watch our Ps and Qs, as we try to meet this demand."

Any increase in supply would be welcomed as a shortage of new listings has caused a spike in prices. The Canadian Real Estate Association said last month existing home prices across the country were up 13.6% in September from a year ago as supply was short in almost every city.

The shortage has yet to ease despite a belief higher prices would coax homeowners to sell. This month the Toronto Real Estate Board reported sale prices in October were up 20% from a year ago.

"The existing-homes market is in short supply so we've gone from a buyers' market to sellers' market," said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist. "The way it gets linked is you get some spillover into the new-homes market and that's starting to happen."

CMHC has upped its forecast for new-home construction for 2010 to 164,900 from 150,300 though that's still off the 211,000 starts of 2008.

Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist with Royal Bank of Canada, said "at the margins" new-home construction could help ease the housing crunch though builders "can't turn on a dime."

gmarr@nationalpost.com

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CMHC forecasts continued new housing rebound

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The national housing agency is reporting that housing starts have started to recover and it expects the recovery to continue.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. predicts starts will reach 141,900 this year and increase to 164,900 in 2010.

The CMHC’s fourth-quarter market outlook forecasts housing markets will continue to strengthen over the next year as economic conditions improve.

It says demand for existing homes has rebounded and both new and existing home markets are characterized by lower inventory levels.

However, the national housing agency says the strong pace of sales in the second and third quarters partly reflects delayed activity and is not likely to be sustained.

The CMHC says it expects the level of sales to move back closer in line with anticipated economic conditions.

It predicts existing home sales will reach 441,300 units in 2009 and increase to 445,150 units in 2010, while the average price is expected to be $312,950 in 2009 and $324,500 in 2010.

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