Real Estate

‘Increased distress sales’ in real estate are noteworthy

27/11/2023

The Globe and Mail’s market strategist offers eight thoughts on the research, analysis and ephemera that’s crossed his desk this week.

1. Scotiabank strategist Hugo Ste-Marie highlighted the release of the U.S. leading economic indicator index this week which, at minus-7.6 per cent year-over-year, is consistent with economic contraction and recession. The coincident leading indicator, however, is up 1.3 per cent year-over-year, and needs to decline in order to reaffirm the leading indicator signal.

2. BofA Securities analyst Ebrahim Poonawala wrote an update on Canadian bank stocks after describing them a “dicey proposition” in his 2024 report on the sector. He noted that almost half a trillion dollars in mortgages are scheduled to renew at much higher rates in 2024 and 2025, a blow to consumer financial health. The analyst expects “noisy” earnings reports from the banks as restructuring charges blur operating profit growth. Every 10 basis-point rise in provisions

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Real Estate

Prices hold steady as recreational real estate sales slow

14/11/2023

Foreign-buyer ban, new short-term rental regulations and high interest rates slash B.C. vacation property sales by up to 50 per cent

B.C. recreational property sales continue to come off their pandemic-era highs, but rising interest rates are just one of several factors at play as the market seeks balance.

“There was a real frenzy in the pandemic years. It created a lot of froth in the market,” said Christopher Alexander, president of Re/Max Canada. “It’s really getting back to normal.”

The good news is that prices are holding steady even as sales continued to slide this year, underscoring the limited impact of rising interest rates.

“Sales are down pretty aggressively, but prices have stayed in pretty decent shape,” he said.

Within Western Canada, ski hill visitation is stabilizing as international tourists return but real estate sales at B.C. resorts such as Whistler, Big White in the Okanagan and Mount Washington

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Real Estate

Below average sales in October for residential real estate market: Association of Interior Realtors

08/11/2023

Residential real estate market sales are below average for October as high interest rates continue to dampen market activity, reports the Association of Interior REALTORS® (the Association).

A total of 977 residential unit sales were recorded across the Association region in October marking a slight increase over September’s 977 units sold and representing a modest 1.8% decrease in sales compared to October 2022.

New residential listings increased 8.6% compared to October 2022 with 1,971 new listings recorded. The total number of active listings saw an increase of 17.1% of total inventory compared to October last year with 7,399 recorded across the Association region. The highest percentage increase in active listings continues to be in the South Okanagan with a total increase of 37.7% and followed closely behind in the North Okanagan with a 26.6% increase in active listings compared to the same month last year.

“While we typically do see

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Real Estate

High interest rates slow Sarnia-area home sales in August

12/09/2023

There were 116 real estate sales locally last month, the fewest in August for the last decade, according to the board’s monthly statistics.

Published Sep 11, 2023  •  3 minute read

A for sale sign is shown outside a house on Sarnia’s Graham Coughtry Court. Photo by Paul Morden /The Observer

The Sarnia-area’s real estate market felt the impact of high interest rates in August, says the president of the Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board.

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There were 116 real estate sales locally last month, the fewest in August for the last decade, according to the board’s monthly statistics.

A slowdown was typical during August before the pandemic, “but obviously for the last two or three years, nothing has been typical,” said board president Rob Longo.

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Real Estate

China real estate: Home sales by top 100 developers plunged further in July

02/08/2023


Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

Plunging sales of new homes and the reported cancellation of a share placement by China’s biggest property developer on Tuesday underscored the depth of the country’s real estate crisis.

Reports that Country Garden had abruptly pulled an attempt to raise $300 million by issuing new shares in Hong Kong coincided with the release of data late Monday showing new home sales by China’s 100 biggest developers dropped by 33% in July from a year ago.

“No definitive agreement has been entered into with respect to the proposed transaction and the company is not considering the proposed transaction at this stage,” Country Garden said in a statement. Its shares fell as much as 11% on the Hong Kong stock exchange. They were last down 7%.

The drop in new home sales in China is the steepest monthly decline since July 2022. For the first seven months of

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