MLS Listings, News & Statistics
Here is the most recent Kamloops MLS activity report from the Kamloops and District Real Estate Association for September 2008.
It’s great news for buyers! If you are a seller have a look at this post “5 Tips for Selling in a Buyers Market”.
Kamloops MLS Activity Report September 2008
I hate to keep bringing bad news to the blog. Of course this is just another opinion. Robert Shiller is predicting that real estate markets in Calgary and Vancouver will be hurt the most if there is a serious down-turn in housing prices.
Canada may face housing bust: Robert Shiller
The Canadian housing market could face a similar housing bust to the United States, particularly in more bubbly markets as Vancouver and Calgary, said Robert Shiller, the Yale University professor who predicted both the 1990s stock market boom and bust and the US housing slump.
Mr. Shiller, co-founder of the S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index, said psychology is the primary driver of bubbles and it appears that Canada has been caught up with home buying fever just as the United States and other countries around the world.
Asked whether that meant Canada could face a similar bust Mr. Shiller said: “Yes, especially in places that went up a lot like Vancouver and Calgary. I don’t think Toronto has been quite as extreme.”
Mr. Shiller said there was a natural connection between the United States and Canada.
“I would be surprised that the bubble that appeared in the United States and elsewhere didn’t appear in Canada,” he said in an interview with the Financial Post. “It’s psychology, I think that drives it.
Mr. Shiller, whose book Irrational Exuberance came out in March 2000 just as the tech bubble peaked, said it was essential for the U.S. government to pass a financial bailout, though he believes the United States is facing a “severe recession,” regardless.
“I’m concerned problems are deeper than can be handled by the bailout but that doesn’t mean the bailout doesn’t do some good,” he said.
He said a bailout might help restore some confidence to the stressed financial system.
“What creates a crisis is a lack of confidence,” he said.
He said the housing crisis was primarily a policy failure by U.S. authorities.
You can read the rest of the story below.
I still can’t believe it! The tolls on the Coquihalla are no more. I think this is great news for Kamloops and all the the surrounding communities that are serviced by the Coquihalla. It’s very beneficial to tourism and it may affect Real Estate prices in Kamloops over the long haul. Now people have one more reason to make the trip to the Loops!
“It took almost two decades from the project’s completion, but Premier Gordon Campbell is finally lifting tolls on the Coquihalla Highway, effective immediately.”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper disagrees with a report issued By Merrill Lynch Canada.
Harper disagrees with pessimistic report on Canadian housing market.
“The report, issued Wednesday by Merrill Lynch Canada economists David Wolf and Carolyn Kwan, said many Canadian households are more financially overextended than their counterparts in the U.S. or Britain.”
“They said it’s only a matter of time before the “tipping point” is reached and the housing and credit markets crack in Canada.”