Housing Market Recovers in Spring
Home sales activity increased for the third time in as many months in April 2009. The Canadian average house price also rose in April, to $306,366, within short reach of the record levels reached one year ago.
Canadian Average Wage Reaches $820
Canadian average weekly earnings, including overtime, of payroll employees was $820.95 in February 2009, up 1.8% from February 2008. Provincially, the strongest year-over-year earnings growth occurred in Alberta, Newfoundland & Labrador and Saskatchewan.
Education and Health Care Buck Job Losses Trend
Canadian jobs fell by 60,700 in March as job losses across industries remained widespread. The largest decline in jobs was for administrative and support services followed by manufacturing. Despite widespread declines, some industries experienced job growth in March.
Property Price Predictions for Canada 2009
Over the last three months, a number of people and agencies have been making predictions about where property prices will head in Canada during 2009.
Canada’s House Sales Fall 31 Percent
Home sales in Canada are down 31 percent compared with a year ago, and average prices are down 9.2 percent. The number of homes on the market remains high, but has been trending lower.
Job Losses Weigh on Ontario
Employment in Ontario fell by 35,000 in February, mostly in construction and finance, insurance, real estate and leasing. This pushed the unemployment rate up 0.7 percentage points to 8.7%, the highest since April 1997.
Patchy Figures For Canadian House Prices
The number of properties sold in Canada slipped further in January 2009. Monthly declines in house sales in British Columbia and Ontario pulled national statistics lower and offset monthly increases in Manitoba, and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Sharp Fall In House Prices In British Columbia
The Canadian average price of homes sold in November 2008 declined by 9.8 per cent from where it stood a year ago. The average price of a house sold in November in Canada was $280,880 a drop of over $30,000 in the last 12 months.
Average Canadian Wage Rises To Over $800
The average Canadian weekly earnings of employees stood at $801.24 in October, up 0.2 percent from September. Compared with a year earlier, average weekly earnings were up 3 percent.
Immigration Gives Canadian Population New High
Canada’s population grew by its highest quarterly growth rate for 18 years in the third quarter of 2008. Population growth continued to remain faster in the western part of the country. As of October 1, 2008, Canada’s population was an estimated 33,441,300. Populations rose in every province and territory, except the Northwest Territories.