Here’s a note from the head of RE/MAX NANAIMO:
I’ve been hard pressed to find a positive headline in the last few weeks. In view of that, I thought you may be interested in these comments. I had lunch today with Larry Pollock , CEO of the Canadian Western Bank. We were talking about the stability of real estate in Western Canada and on the Island.
CWB has a very large exposure to real estate and therefore a big interest in the stability of values. He first spoke of the differences between the Canadian and US markets that we often compare ourselves to. Given the tax deductibility of mortgage interest in the US, his analogy went like this. “In the US, the average homeowner goes to bed dreaming of a bigger mortgage to purchase consumer goods. In Canada, we dream of going to bed and paying off our mortgage”. 50% of Canadian homes are owned clear title. 30 to 40% have 50% equity or better. He sees a big difference between our two markets. These conservative habits have kept foreclosures to a minimum, giving his Bank the opinion that we are not in a bubble.
Other interesting points included; The Banks research suggests strong immigration numbers will continue to play a large role in the growth of Vancouver. The Bank has forecast prime rate to remain unchanged through 2012. More stability…
All in all, he stressed his optimism for real estate values and provided a list of impressive reasons to back it up.
Charlie
