In a December 17th media release Royal LePage Canada has just released their annual market forecast for 2008. Generally speaking, the strong real estate market of 2007 is expected to carry over into 2008 albeit at a more moderate pace. The current overall strength of the Canadian economy is built on strong economic fundamentals including low unemployment, a high degree of consumer confidence thanks in part to the strength of the Canadian dollar, modest inflation and reasonably low lending rates. These economic conditions will continue to drive the demand for residential real estate throughout the coming year although a 4.0% reduction in unit sales is forecasted for the year with sales expected to fall slightly below 501,000 units. House prices are forecasted to rise by a more modest rate of 3.5% nationally which is expected to reduce the bidding wars that have characterized many urban markets across Canada is recent years.
It is predicted that 2008 will see an abundance of first-time buyers enter the housing market stemming from stable mortgage rates and longer amortization periods thus resultng in highly affordable monthly mortgage payments. For the full details of the Royal LePage Canada report click on the following link:
http://www.royallepage.ca/CMSTemplates/AboutUs/Company/CompanyTemplate.aspx?id=1684
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