Scotiabank says recent immigrants now driving force in real estate market
July 9, 2009
TORONTO — At least two of Canada’s big banks have found encouraging signs in the country’s housing market, one financial and the other social.
A commentary from TD Economics on Thursday said there are encouraging signs that a bottom may be forming under the Canada’s depressed homebuilding market, citing an eight per cent increase in housing starts in June on top of a 10.8 per cent increase in May.
Although homebuilding activity overall remains one-third below the pace of a year ago, the report prepared by TD economist Pascal Gauthier noted that the June climb “marks the second consecutive monthly increase in starts after a long string of nearly uninterrupted slides that started last fall.”
On a regional basis, June’s urban starts increase was lead by a 59.4 per cent surge in the Prairie region, followed by a 25 per cent gain in B.C., and a more modest 3.1 per cent increase in Ontario.
On the flipside, urban starts slid by 6.3 per cent in Quebec and 3.9 per cent in the Atlantic region. However, the bank said regions east of Ontario have generally not seen the same extent of decline as elsewhere.
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Source : B.H. Mckenna
