Canadian economy grows fastest in 3 years

Tavia Grant of the Globe and Mail reported that the Canadian economy began the year with a bang, expanding the most in three years as manufacturing, mining and construction activity quickened. The country's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of all produced goods and services, rose by a better-than-expected 0.6 per cent in January on widespread gains, Statistics Canada said Wednesday. It was the fastest growth since December, 2006, the fifth month in a row of increases, and the latest in a string of economic reports to top expectations. The Bank of Canada said earlier this month the economy has been hotter than it had anticipated, putting additional pressure on the central bank to begin hiking interest rates in the coming months. “Barring some major unexpected economic shock, it is hard to imagine the Bank of Canada raising rates any later than July, and it must be conceded that June is at least theoretically possible,” said Eric Lascelles, chief macro strategist for Canada at TD Securities.

Tundra Swans are Back

Spring is finally here with the return of the Tundra Swans to Lake Smith, south of Grand Bend near the Pinery Provincial Park. The swans are stopping over at the former Lake Smith before they head north to their nesting area in the Arctic. It was reported that over 40,000 swans are in the area this spring. Click here to see the video.

We are back from the Sunny...Cold South

Jeannette and myself made it back from our Florida vacation and even though it was a little cooler there, we did not see any snow! The vegetation in Florida looks a little rough with all the cold weather but we were able to golf and get in a ball game, so spring is right around the corner.

February Housing Starts up 5 Fold

Hank Daniszewski of the London Free Press reported that with even the February snow the London area housing market was heating up with the most single-family housing starts in more than a year. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) said 150 single-family homes were started in London-St. Thomas last month, topping any month in 2009. The number of starts was five times as many as February 2009 when the market was in the middle of a deep slump. CMHC Analyst David Lan said the local market has been on an upswing since last Sept. "We are back to our long term pre-recession numbers". Which is great news for this area as the market is beginning to heat up with the spring like weather.

We are holidaying in Florida

Wish I could say the weather was warmer but 60 is better than 30! We are in the Orlando area and have been golfing, made it to Epcot at Disney and are off the see the Tigers and Bluejays tomorrow. Hope it will get warmer as well

Listing Inventory Levels are Very Low!

Lack of inventory will be the greatest Challenge facing housing markets across the country this Spring, according to a report released today by RE/MAX. The RE/MAX Market Trends Report 2010, which examined real estate trends and developments in 16 markets across the country, found that unusually strong activity during one of the traditionally quietest months of the year has led to a sharp decline in active listings in 81 per cent of markets surveyed. The threat of higher interest rates, tighter lending criteria, and in British Columbia and Ontario, the introduction of the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) have clearly served to kick-start real estate activity from coast-to-coast, prompting an unprecedented influx of purchasers. As a result, 87.5 per cent of
markets posted an increase in sales in January. Average price appreciated in 81 per cent of markets surveyed. “There have never been so many motivating factors in play at once,” says Michael Polzler, Executive Vice President, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. “We’re in for a heated Spring market that will, in all probability, spill over into the summer months, as the window of opportunity draws to a close. The supply of homes listed for sale has been drastically reduced, housing values are once again on the upswing, and banks and governments are moving in unison toward stricter lending policies.” Markets experiencing the tightest inventory levels include Toronto (- 41 per cent); Kitchener-Waterloo (-33 per cent); Ottawa (- 30 per cent); Victoria (- 30 per cent); Greater Vancouver (- 27 per cent); Halifax-
Dartmouth (- 19 per cent); London-St. Thomas (- 18 per cent); Regina (- 16 per cent); and Winnipeg (- 13 per cent). Conditions were still balanced, but starting to tighten in Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon,particularly in the single-family detached category.

Townsend Meadows Development

The Townsend Meadows Development is now completed and ready for area Seniors to move in. Attached is a Photo tour of the Development showing the progress of the Units being built. Just click here to see the photos.