Anyway, even if you are managing to enjoy some of the summer, if you are like me you probably cannot ignore the headlines about the housing market, interest rates and the economy in general.
But what does it all mean?
None of us have a crystal ball and it does seem that this market and the way the economy is running is a never-before-experienced time, in large part because of the impact (good and bad) of the pandemic.
It was interesting to see that even though gas prices have risen and fallen roughly the same number of times, the number of media headlines about them going up far outweighs those coming down.
That is why you want to be sure you are getting a balanced view of real estate investing and not rely on whatever a social media platform decides should be in your news feed or what Joe or Sally think at the backyard BBQ.
Here are three resources that I have been looking at to get that more balanced viewpoint and also an outlook on where things may be heading:
1. Housing Markets, data and research from CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation)
For housing research and market reports, and access data tables for insights into the Canadian housing industry:
https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/professionals/housing-markets-data-and-research
There are a number of reports to dig into here and they can be quite detailed but overall some very useful insights and information.
2. Emerging Trends in Real Estate from PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers)
Explore the trends, markets to watch and property sectors:
https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/industries/real-estate/emerging-trends-in-real-estate.html
Interestingly, of the 3 areas that PwC sees are the best bets in the Canadian real estate market, rental housing is one of them, which highlights that opportunities for real estate investors long term are still good. The demographics and federal immigration plan support this too.
3. Housing Statistics from Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada produces statistics that help Canadians better understand the country—its population, resources, economy, society and culture. It’s not only the Census every 5 years that they work on, but they also have over 350 active surveys and a number of these are housing related.
https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/subjects-start/housing
Again a lot to dive into here. But Statistics Canada produces a variety of interactive visualization tools that present data in a graphical form and gives you a really helpful snapshot in a number of areas.
Of course, you can always go to other sources of information that all have their teams of economists and crystal ball gazers, I tend to stick to the professional associations versus the mainstream media though.
Some examples are:
Canadian Real Estate Association
https://www.crea.ca/housing-market-stats/canadian-housing-market-stats/
Mortgage Professionals of Canada
Comment and let me know which one helped you the most or if you have a useful resource you rely on. I would love to hear from you!