mik_n_ash

With falling commodity prices, extracting difficult reserves such as these are not attractive to the oil and gas companies, why would they spend $45 to extract a barrell of oil if its only currently selling for around $77 US? Much the same as the alaskan tar sands... again unattractive due to the ratio of the extraction cost versus the refining and selling costs.

mik_n_ash

EXACTLY

deanjp32

More jobs that are being created are in the service sector which does not pay as well as the more traditional manufacturing sectors etc. Which means like it did in the UK that people will have less money so wont be able to afford those rising house prices without going over the top and taking 30/40 year mortgages.

Where wil this leave everyone if it continues???

Ontheboatout

I have just saved a buyer client from the USA just under $200,000 dollars (so far) by suggesting they wait before a purchase.

If I was a UK buyer ready to buy I would want the same - watch the exchange rate over the next two weeks. 100,000 GBP will buy Can$227,000 instead of Can$196,000.

mik_n_ash

This will result in a housing meltdown the likes of which the UK/US/Spain/Dubai/France/Germany/etc, etc is currently entering, affordability is the key, if someone earns £20k a year, a sensible lending term will be 3.5 times annual salary over 20/25 years, which means that an 'average' house should cost around £70k (taking into account a 10% deposit). Clearly the OP fails to grasp this concept, and by trying to get people to buy into the current market in canada (at its theoretical peak) is simply trying to eek out the last few drops of a realtors sales commision. Simply take a drive around Halifax and look at all the 'New price' and reduced real estate signage up everywhere, very little is moving and the Canadian economy is teetering on the edge. Obviously too much to truely comprehend as he/she has yet to really answer any of my points thus far.

MarkG

On the other hand, the only way for most Western nations to avoid a decade-long depression is to inflate away their debts; in which case buying a house now might turn out to be a very good move.

I think the only thing that's safe to say right now is that anything could happen in the next couple of years.

mik_n_ash

[QUOTE=Ontheboatout;6866646]I have just saved a buyer client from the USA just under $200,000 dollars (so far) by suggesting they wait before a purchase.

So you can guarantee how the markets are going to go? Awesome... I'll have 10 million of your imaginary mega-dollars for 50 cents, and they'll be worth $50,000,000,000,000 CAD in 2 weeks time? Sign me up.... Idiot.

deanjp32

Most economists are saying that the housing market is on the slowdown right across Canada. If you can afford it then it is a good idea to buy on the downswing with cash however at present it really is not too good if you need a mortgage to buy even with the prime down to 4.25% as lenders are sticking 1% above prime on new mortgages. Where my mortgage is less than 3.5% new mortgages can be over 1.5% more expensive which is a s--t load of cash each month on the average price home and with all those new service sector jobs and less well paid jobs. At least the Canadian banks do have better lending policies to stop what happened in the U.S coming here. time will tell i guess

mik_n_ash

Totally agree, if you have the money to put down, and you're buying a house to be a home, then waiting untill the market drops to a level at which you're happy to buy then i'd say go for it, if on the other hand, you're looking to finnace it through a mortgage etc then now would not be the best time to be piling into property.

mik_n_ash

some interesting reading for the OP

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/for...howtopic=91268
http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/for...howtopic=71298

Ontheboatout

An average home in Nova Scotia is 90k GBP, so higher and lower prices to make that average.

http://www.crea.ca/public/news_stats/statistics.htm

Most people come from the UK with cash; lots and lots of it, as they have to meet the minimum funds requirement - I'm just trying to help them bring more.

Exactly... ".....Halifax and look at all the 'New price' and reduced real estate signage up everywhere..."

if you are ready to buy from the UK, in the next couple of weeks is a good time to do something with your hard earned, when the Can$ is $2.27 and sellers are stressed, it's time to Buy! Buy! Buy!...or you could wait for them to regain their confidence...or just live in a tent...I hear tents are up in the UK (source: WigWams Ltd. shareprice +89.7).

When you are teetering on an edge you can just as easily not fall off. You have missed the entire point, I'm not talking about people buying who are already here.

Ontheboatout

Fuel fell to 50p/litre yesterday.

mik_n_ash

This all of course depends on you selling your house in the UK... which is a massive struggle at the moment, estate agents are closing at a massive rate (thankfully), and sellers are cutting their prices chasing down a falling market, your advice is fundamentally incorrect, you can not say that the CAD will reach 2.27 or any other level for that matter, the CAD was trading on Fri at Canadian Dollar 2.0274, whats to say that the exchange markets tank on Monday? YOU can't predict this, giving reckless advice about peoples hard-earned, purely to stimulate your vested interest in real estate sales is disgusting.

Danny B

Bollocks. It's still £1 litre in most part of UK.

Ontheboatout

"As our analysis shows, the Canadian housing market is stable and home sellers are not under pressure to sell. This is in stark contrast to the U.S. housing market, where there are a large number of distress sales. In Canada, with price gains diminishing and homebuyers taking more time to shop, the number of active MLS® listings may continue to ease so the Canadian housing market would stabilize further."

Gregory Klump, CREA Chief Economist