06 July, 2007

There are no housing issues is Canada. The housing plague that struck the US is not yet evident in Canada, and the market does not show any signs of waning. Housing starts and sales are still strong across the country with ridiculous prices in Vancouver just getting more ridiculous. Soon to be rising interest rates may put a damper on the national housing boom. Read the full article below.

TORONTO (Reuters) - The housing market continued its "astounding" momentum in the second quarter of 2007, and is expected to keep up the pace for the rest of the year, according to a report released on Thursday.

Royal LePage Real Estate Services said in its quarterly report that the average Canadian house price is expected to rise by 9.5 percent to C$303,000 ($286,775) by the end of the year. The number of transactions is seen rising by 8 percent to 522,306 units.

 "The most profound story in Canadian real estate today is the extraordinary interest that people across our country continue to have in buying and selling homes," Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage, said in a release.

"The momentum from the year's extraordinary start spilled into the second quarter, compounding typically busy spring market activity and stimulating solid price appreciations in almost all regions of the country," said Soper.

The highest average increase in price was for detached bungalows, which rose 15.4 percent to C$338,738. Standard condominiums gained 15.1 percent year-over-year to C$238,784, and standard two-storey properties were up 13.2 percent at C$399,469 Vancouver, British Columbia remained the most expensive place to buy a home, with a standard two-storey house averaging C$875,750, followed by Toronto at C$517,659.

The Royal LePage report was supported by data released by Statistics Canada on Thursday, which showed that building permits for May soared to a record high, increasing by 21.4 percent, mostly due to plans for new office space in Calgary, Alberta, and Vancouver.