Adapting to Canadian Market Conditions: 2015 Turbulent Housing Markets

When it comes to real estate investment, where are Canada’s worst markets? Well, nowhere that we could classify as turbulent at least. Housing numbers stayed steady, nationally, the entire year.

It has widely been reported throughout the year that the Canadian economy could be headed for trouble. Some would even say that the BOC’s rate drop this past summer is evidence of that, and articles like this one are suggesting that provinces such as Alberta are headed for a correction: http://globalnews.ca/news/1860605/sturdy-as-a-house-of-cards-a-look-at-canadas-property-boom/.

It can be hard to forecast and adapt to Canadian Market conditions with wide speculation of turbulent housing markets and the potential that a housing bubble exists in Canada. After all, a wise person once said there are two sides to every story, but the truth lands somewhere in the middle!

The best way to adapt to Canadian market conditions is to be in the know and this could involve a multi-lateral approach.

1.      Make sure you are subscribed to all the financial/news publications in your area of focus and not just one – only subscribing to one could leave you influenced by that publication’s positioning. Pick out your top 3-4 trusted publications to receive in your inbox.

2.      Who releases white papers? National corporations like Pricewaterhouse Cooper routinely release annual publications about Canadian real estate trends http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/real-estate/publications/pwc-emerging-trends-in-real-estate-2015-en.pdf.

3.      House price indices – Consider subscribing to Canadian house price indices like the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index™ to keep on top of national housing numbers.

4.      Provincial reports – Provincial reports like the Ontario Mortgage Insights Report drills down on provincial housing data at a more granular level.

5.      Automated valuations – you can use AVMs to generate assessments of cities or even entire neighbourhoods.  

Taking the above 5 actions means more reading, yes, however it also means that you can hand your intel down to your team to not only identify areas of risk but also areas of opportunity! You can either act using this intel to mitigate risk in these areas or work with your marketing group to ensure that you are maximizing your efforts in hot areas, even marketing the right products according to the market.

One thing that is very positive is that, throughout 2015, despite the low oil prices impacting the dollar and economist speculation, the Canadian housing market appears as strong as ever and a great market for lenders and real estate investors.

Don’t let a lack of knowledge about the Canadian housing market mean lost opportunities. Stay on top of what is happening. Contact Purview For Lenders today at 1.855.787.8439.