Why Canada is better situated than our friends to the south

[Maxx]

Check out this article. Nice a concise review of why we're where we are at today and what the Americans should know about us ... their often overlooked neighbours to the north.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0606/What-s-the-secret-to-Canada-s-miracle-economy

:broke:

[mc94xr7]

i dont know... if you dont think we got a debt crisis in canada, you really aren't paying attention.

[Iam]

I have to agree with mc94xr7 Canadians debt-to-income ratio is now higher than Americans. The Canadian Real Estate is kept humming along because of interest rates that are being held at an all time low to help soften the impact from the economic slowdown. What happens when rates move a couple of points? They have no where to go but up, when that happens people who have no buffer in their current budgets will be impacted.

[mc94xr7]

I have to agree with mc94xr7 Canadians debt-to-income ratio is now higher than Americans. The Canadian Real Estate is kept humming along because of interest rates that are being held at an all time low to help soften the impact from the economic slowdown. What happens when rates move a couple of points? They have no where to go but up, when that happens people who have no buffer in their current budgets will be impacted.
actually, google "Fannie May and Freedie Mac". It explains the housing crash. those 2 companies took on home buyers who couldn't even afford their homes and gave them a mortgage anyway. So the economy grew and grew. then one by one a huge amount of people began to realize that they cant make their payments anymore because they discovered that they can't afford their mortgage so they forclosed. and more and more people were learning the hard way creating a tidal wave of foreclosures. this created a huge supply of empty houses in the market which had the same demand. (supply vs. demand) then people who were able to afford their homes who were making payments on their $300,000.00 dollar homes realized that the value plummeted to $150,000.00 so they foreclosed to get out of this waste of time and money- further putting more empty houses into an already flooded market. (Way too much supply for the demand).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fannie_Mae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mac
everything the government touches, turns to crap.

[Mercenary]

Didn't the Bank of Canada say they weren't going to touch interest rates until at least 2013? I thought I heard that somewhere....

Anyway...house prices are way too high in this country to begin with. Here in FSJ a good house that needs some work is around 250 to 300 grand. If you think that is reasonable then you're out to lunch. I make GOOD money and I won't even consider buying a home for that price UNLESS it is brand new and in a really nice neighbourhood..... Yes, its likely that I will never buy another house...but I still have my old one and that is going to be paid off in 13 yrs IF I never touch the mortgage. I only paid 97 grand for it for starters......

Alas it is the old law of supply and demand that drives up house prices COUPLED with historically low interest rates. Bump rates up to 7-8-or even 9 percent and all those marginal prospective buyers are priced right out of the market....which would cause prices to plummet because not too many would be buying and so on....simple economics.....

[coolcountrycowboy]

Your damn right Merc.

6 years ago, I wanted to buy a house. A home. My income couldn't afford the expensive house in my area.

So the only way I could have a new house? Built it myself. Very very long process and very tough for a couple. Don't worry, we got through.

Today, I can sell my house for double what it cost me to built (Keep in mind, beside basement wall and roof trusses, I did everything myself).
Am I gonna sell it? I don't know.

Now the land prices are gone way up...

At the second thought, what are the price range for a land in your area???? Just kidding...

[mc94xr7]

Im planning on building a house some day