The funding was made available through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government’s plan to stimulate the economy and create jobs during the global recession. Overall, the Economic Action Plan includes $2 billion for new and existing social housing, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment of $75 million under the amended Canada–New Brunswick Affordable Housing Program Agreement.

The Government of Canada wants to improve the quality of existing social housing for low-income seniors, single-parent families, recent immigrants and Aboriginal households. Canada’s Economic Action Plan provides $850 million under the Affordable Housing Initiative to provinces and territories for the renovation and retrofit of existing social housing.

Renovations include exterior retrofits, electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation, fire safety, energy improvements and site works.

Tilly O’Neill-Gordon, Member of Parliament for Miramichi, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); and the Honourable John Foran, New Brunswick Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, on behalf of the Honourable Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick Minister of Social Development and Minister Responsible for Housing, made the announcement today.

“In its second year, our government’s Economic Action Plan is stimulating the economy and creating jobs during the global recession here in New Brunswick and across Canada,” said MP O’Neill-Gordon. “Renovation projects like these are a good way to get the local economy moving and put construction workers and tradespeople to work quickly. Most importantly, they are giving a hand-up to those who need it most, by improving the quality of social housing.”

“We are pleased to work together to provide affordable and safe accommodations for low-income seniors, families and to those who have accessibility needs in northeastern New Brunswick,” Foran said. “Affordable housing is a key component of Overcoming Poverty Together: The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Plan to ensure New Brunswickers have a quality, energy-efficient place to call home.”

Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on the Government of Canada’s commitment in 2008 of more than $1.9 billion, over five years, to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless.

Low-income Alberta families, individuals, seniors and persons with disabilities will soon have greater access to affordable housing, thanks to a more than $70-million federal-provincial investment for 19 projects, which includes funding through Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

The Honourable Rob Merrifield, Minister of State (Transport), on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), along with the Honourable Jonathan Denis, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs made the announcement today.

The announcement was made at a special signing for Mayfair Village, an affordable housing project in downtown Edmonton which will bring affordable rental accommodation to 237 families and individuals. In addition to the $6.3-million federal and provincial contribution in this project, the City of Edmonton is also investing $7.8 million in the project.

“Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our Government is providing a hand-up to those who need it most here in Alberta and in all corners of the country,” said Minister Merrifield. “We are committed to making communities stronger. These investments help create new jobs and stimulate the economy, while providing access to safe, affordable homes for Canadians.”

“The province is proud to partner with the federal government, non-profit and for profit groups to develop more affordable housing in Alberta,” said Honourable Jonathan Denis, Minister of Alberta Housing and Urban Affairs. “These partnerships allow us to build more housing units at less of a cost to the taxpayer, which is particularly important during tough economic times.”

“The Mayfair Village development is an example of the great work we can do in cooperation with our provincial and federal partners,” said Mayor Stephen Mandel. “The integration of affordable and accessible units into our neighbourhoods city-wide will further cultivate the diverse and vibrant communities that make Edmonton a remarkable place to live.”

“These units will make a positive difference in the lives of many of our community members,” said George Schluessel, Chief Executive Officer and President of ProCura Real Estate Services Ltd. “The proponents thank the Federal government and the Alberta government for their ongoing commitment to increase the supply of affordable housing and for funding for these much needed initiatives.”

Including the Mayfair Village development, the federal and provincial governments announced they are investing equally in 19 housing projects across Alberta. Cost-matched government funding announced today will facilitate the construction of seven projects in Calgary, four in Edmonton and eight in other Alberta communities for a total of 886 new affordable housing units.

The funding announced today has been made available through Canada’s Economic Action Plan and the extension of the Affordable Housing Initiative. Overall, the federal and provincial governments will be contributing equally to fund $238 million in housing investments under the amended Canada – Alberta Affordable Housing Program Agreement.

Non-profit organizations, private businesses and municipalities were eligible to apply for the funding through Alberta’s affordable housing Request for Proposals (RFP) process which leverages government funding with private-sector dollars. Successful applicants receive funding to purchase or build affordable housing units, renovate existing rental units, develop secondary units in private homes or support other options as identified by the community.

Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on the Government of Canada’s commitment in 2008 of more than $1.9 billion, over five years, to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless. The Action Plan provides $475 million, over two years, to build new rental housing for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities. Overall it provides more than $2 billion for new and existing social housing, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

Alberta Affordable Housing – Moishe Alexander

The funding was made available through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the federal government’s plan to stimulate the economy and create jobs during the global recession. Overall, the Economic Action Plan includes $2 billion for new and existing social housing, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure. The federal and provincial governments are contributing equally to this overall investment of $96 million under the amended Canada – Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Program Agreement.

The Government of Canada wants to improve the quality of existing social housing for low-income seniors, single parent families, recent immigrants and Aboriginal households. Canada’s Economic Action Plan provides $850 million under the Affordable Housing Initiative to provinces and territories for the renovation and retrofit of existing social housing. It also provides a total of $475 million, over two years, to build new rental housing, including $400 million for housing for low-income seniors and $75 million for housing for persons with disabilities.

The Greystone project, located in Spryfield, will receive $5.9 million for repairs and renovation of 246 units for seniors and families. The Ida Mae Marriott project, also located in Spryfield will receive $3.15 million to construct 15 new units and to regenerate six existing units for a total of 21 units, which includes 18 units for seniors and three units for persons with disabilities. The remainder of nearly $5 million will be distributed amongst 10 projects (a total of 950 units for seniors and families) located throughout HRM for repairs and renovations. Repairs to the housing projects will include exterior refurbishments, including roofs, siding, windows and doors, in addition to interior upgrades to kitchens.

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), along with the Honourable Denise Peterson-Rafuse, Nova Scotia Minister of Community Services, made the announcement today.

“Our Government remains committed through our ongoing Economic Action Plan to giving a hand-up to those who need it most here in Nova Scotia,” said Minister MacKay. “That’s why we’re proud to be investing in the construction and renovation of these units in Halifax, which will provide safe, affordable homes for years to come.”

“The province is committed to making life better for families in Nova Scotia. Housing is a fundamental part of the equation,” said Minister Peterson-Rafuse. “We are very happy to improve and increase affordable housing in metro Halifax. This investment will mean more families, seniors, and people with disabilities will be living in safe, comfortable, accessible homes.”

Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on the Government of Canada’s commitment in 2008 of more than $1.9 billion, over the next five years, to improve and build new affordable housing and help the homeless.

Nova Scotia and Affordable Housing in Halifax

“An increase in residential housing starts combined with rising MLS® sales is expected in New Brunswick in 2010 after seeing reduced activity in both the new home and resale market in most provincial urban centres last year,” said Claude Gautreau, CMHC’s senior market analyst for New Brunswick. Housing activity during the first quarter of 2010 has yielded positive results as economic fundamentals in the province remained strong, highlighted by historically high employment levels. These conditions are expected to persist over the forecast period.

In New Brunswick’s three large urban areas – Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton – residential starts are expected to outpace last year’s totals. However, the anticipated increase in housing starts in 2010 and 2011 will be moderate. The existing home market is expected to follow the same general trend with steady price growth in both 2010 and 2011, combined with a moderate increase in sales.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a
variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions.

YouTube video New Brunswick

“Housing starts improved in both the singles and multiples segments in January,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “These increases are similar to the ones that occurred in December.”

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 4.4 per cent to 165,200 units in January. Urban multiple starts increased by 5.7 per cent to 76,300 units while single urban starts increased by 3.3 per cent to 88,900 units.

January’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 19.8 per cent in British Columbia, by 7.3 per cent in Quebec, by 2.3 per cent in Atlantic Canada, and by 1.5 per cent in the Ontario. In the Prairie region, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts decreased by 4.8 per cent.

Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 21,100 units in January.

As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions.

Case by Case Basis

As part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, the Government announced $1 billion for social housing renovation and retrofit. Of the $1 billion, $850 million is being delivered by provinces and territories on a cost-matched basis for existing federally assisted social housing projects that they administer on behalf of the partnership. The remaining $150 million is being delivered by CMHC for existing federally assisted off-reserve housing that it directly administers. Repairs that are eligible for funding include general improvements, energy-efficiency upgrades or conversions, and modifications in support of persons with disabilities.

“Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our government is taking action to help ensure our economic recovery and create the conditions for long-term growth,” said the Honourable Christian Paradis, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). “Funding renovation and retrofit projects, like these ones, will not only improve the quality of life of the residents by keeping their homes safe and affordable but also help stimulate the economy and create jobs.”

As of February 1, 2010, CMHC is accepting applications from eligible project sponsors for the remaining $75 million funding for year two. Sponsor groups can apply online or through the mail. Eligible repairs include general improvements, energy-efficiency upgrades or conversions, and modifications in support of persons with disabilities.

Introduction to Affordable Housing

Tim Uppal, Member of Parliament for Edmonton – Sherwood Park, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); Janice Sarich, MLA for Edmonton – Decore; Karen Leibovici, Deputy Mayor for the City of Edmonton; and the homeEd Board of Directors launched the grand opening with homeEd tenants, members from the Fraser Community League and the City’s Advisory Board on Services for Persons with Disabilities.

“Through Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our government is providing Canadians a hand up to those who need it the most,” said MP Uppal. “Our government is committed to making communities stronger through projects like this one. These investments in local infrastructure will help create new jobs and stimulate the local economy.”

“Congratulations to all the partners who worked together to support homeEd’s Fraser development,” said Yvonne Fritz, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs. “These 31 town homes are more than just safe and affordable places to live. They are the key to a better life for the families that will call them home.”

“Edmonton City Council is proud to utilize Cornerstones investment in the homeEd Fraser development to create affordable rental housing for our citizens. Affordable rental housing is a vital part of the multipronged strategies the City of Edmonton has successfully delivered with all our partners in government, community, non-profit and the private sector,” said Deputy Mayor Karen Leibovici, Council Lead on Affordable Housing and Homelessness. “The inclusion of barrier free rental units is an important option and will greatly enhance families’ abilities to remain together in a home environment.”

With over 700 units in their current inventory, the Fraser town homes are the first newly constructed units built by homeEd in 16 years. Edmonton City Council has invested $34 million in the Cornerstones Plan that will help create over 2,600 affordable housing units by 2011.

“homeEd has been proudly helping meet the affordable housing needs of Edmontonians for almost three decades,” said Terry Loat, General Manager of homeEd. “homeEd is an important part of the innovated affordable housing solutions offered by the City of Edmonton. Through funding partnerships from all orders of government, homeEd is a very successful housing model accommodating a tenant mix of low and moderate incomes.”

In 2008, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over five years to improve and build new affordable housing and to help the homeless. Canada’s Economic Action Plan builds on this with an additional one-time investment of more than $2 billion over two years in new and existing social housing, plus up to $2 billion in loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure.

We are seeing similar signs in the Vancouver real estate market and many are now saying that the price adjustments may have bottomed out sometime towards the end of 2008 or the first couple of months of 2009. And in fact we may have seen prices of Vancouver real estate bounce back a bit from their lows earlier this year.

New home construction rose for a second straight month in June, in what analysts say is another sign that the worst may be over for the Canadian housing market.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Thursday there were 140,700 new homes constructed in June on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis. Construction was up almost 8% from the 130,300 May figure.
“There are some pretty good signs that we are starting to see in the housing market,” said Bob Dugan, chief economist with CMHC. “We’ve seen it for quite a few months on the existing homes side.”
Existing home sales rose 42% from January to May across the country and the early indications are that June was strongest month this year. Sales in Vancouver were up 76% last month compared with a year earlier and Calgary and Toronto both recorded 27% increases during the same period.
Existing home inventories have begun to shrink across the country, convincing builders to ramp up construction. CMHC said urban single family homes — considered the best barometer of the new home market — climbed 7.3% in May from a month earlier.
“It’s well into seller’s market territory again with the May and April numbers,” said Mr. Dugan.
The optimism about the Canadian market comes despite the fact new construction at 140,000 units is way off the 200,000-plus figure the market in Canada has seen for the past seven years.
“I can only speculate, but maybe a lot of people are relieved we are not seeing the decreases we have seen in the U.S.,” said Mr. Dugan. “Peak-to-trough, the decline in the U.S. was something like 80%. In Canada, that would mean we’d have to have 55,000 starts. Some people may have thought that’s where the Canadian market was going.”
The consensus among economist is construction won’t return to pre-recession levels but will gradually improve in the coming months.
“This month’s increase is an important confirmation that the Canadian housing sector is past the worst and in recovery mode,” said Marco Lettieri, an economist with National Bank. “The recovery seems to be broad based with gains observed in both multiple [which includes condominium construction] and single units.”
Robert Kavcic, an economist with Bank of Montreal, said there could be some room for modest growth in starts in the coming months.
“Higher affordability and improved consumer confidence brought buyers off the sidelines this spring,” said Mr. Kavcic.
A report this week from RBC Economics said declining prices and lower interest rates led to one of the biggest quarterly improvements in affordability in history. The bank said monthly payments on a typical detached bungalow in Canada had decreased by almost 17% from a year earlier.
Royal LePage Real Estate Services was also forced this week to upgrade its forecast for 2009 because of the improved market conditions. It now expects 430,000 sales this year, an improvement from its previous call of 416,000, but still down 1% from a year ago.
“I think 2009 will go down as a moderate correction as opposed to the deep and sustained recession that we had first feared,” said Phil Soper, chief executive of the real estate company.
Royal LePage expects prices this year will still fall but not by as much as previously feared. It expects the average sale price in 2009 to be $297,000, a 2% drop from last year. It had previously forecast a 3.5% decline.
Mr. Soper said a decline is still tough to swallow after years of compound growth of close to 10% in the housing market but it’s proving to be a far cry from what has happened in the United States.
“We are long way from the 35% decline that a lot of regions in the United States are experiencing. It’s a very different kind of correction,” said Mr. Soper

http://bestmortgagesvancouver.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/worst-may-be-over-for-the-housing-market/

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Stephen Gordon – National Post

Here is part of what is hopefully one of the last of a once-robust breed – The Apocalyptic Canadian Housing Market Story, this one from Macleans:

Judging by the latest real estate data, the Canadian housing market could scarcely be better. Average home prices are up more than 16 per cent this year, and in May they hit an all-time monthly high, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. By those numbers, Canada didn’t just sidestep the housing market crash that continues to plague the United States, it sailed right through it virtually unscathed. And yet, there are plenty of signs that the Canadian housing market is still sitting on some very shaky ground—and even the potential that Canada’s big housing crash is yet to come.

Yadda yadda yadda.

We all know that the proximate cause of the U.S. recession was the bursting of its housing market bubble: it blew up banks, laid waste to personal balance sheets, and left millions of people stuck in homes whose mortgages were more than their market value.

And then Canada went into recession. Unfortunately, this set up the following error of logic that was repeated in all-too-many Canadian newsrooms:

1. The U.S. is in recession because its housing market blew up.

2. Canada is in recession.

3. Therefore, Canada’s housing market must be blowing up as well.

And so it was the fate of any number of hapless Canadian journalists to be given assignments to bash out pieces that fit this narrative. But these exercises were all doomed to failure. The decline in house prices in Canada is a symptom of the recession, not its cause.

Let’s look at how house prices have behaved since 2003:

Canadian and US price indices

U.S. house prices have fallen almost 40% (all changes are expressed in per cent log terms: 100 times the difference in the logs), while Canadian house prices are still within 10% of their peak. There are any number of lazy analysts who have swallowed the faulty syllogism enumerated above and have concluded that ‘Canada is following the U.S. with a lag’. This only makes sense if you think that Canadian house prices rose for the same reasons that US prices rose, and that they have fallen for the same reasons that U.S. prices have fallen. This is not the case. As has been documented at great length here and elsewhere, the Canadian economy has avoided the worst of the bubble and its consequences for the following reasons (among others):

1. We never had restrictions on interstate banking, so Canadian banks spread their assets and liabilities across Canada. (So it doesn’t matter if a local housing market goes bust).

2. We don’t have Glass-Steagal. The investment banks joined the retail banks some years ago.

3. We don’t have mortgage interest deductibility from taxes. So paying down your mortgage is a tax-free investment. So most people want to pay down their mortgages.

4. (Except in Alberta), mortgages are fully recourse. You can’t just walk away from a negative equity home and hand the keys to the bank; the bank will come after you for the difference.

Yes, house prices have fallen. But the linkages that make the U.S. story so compelling don’t exist here. We don’t have banks that are blowing up. We don’t have massive waves of foreclosures (even the Globe and Mail has given up on its series of articles that culminated in this silliness). Nor do we have much in the way of evidence that lower house prices are causing undue inconvenience to Canadians: when Maclean’s decided to jump on the OMGWTFBBQ housing market bandwagon, the best it could could come up with in the way of a victim was some flipper of 7-figure Vancouver condos who got caught mid-flip. Boo-hoo-freaking-hoo.

Moreover, it’s becoming pretty clear that the decline in house prices is not so much a national story as it is one of falling house prices in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto:

Canadian city house price indices

Vancouver is and always will be a special case whenever we talk about housing prices in Canada: its geography makes it extremely difficult for developers to respond to increases in demand. This is the sort of environment in which bubbles flourish so I’m not going to pretend that I can predict movements in Vancouver house prices. In Calgary, the incipient recovery in the oil sector will no doubt establish a floor on housing prices there fairly soon. And there’s even not-entirely-bad news out of Toronto these days. So I don’t see just how the national index is supposed to fall by another 30% or so.

It’s worth following the housing market numbers. But they are going to be at best a coincident indicator in this cycle.

Stephen Gordon is a professor of economics at l’Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada and a fellow of the Centre interuniversitaire sur le risque, les politiques économiques et l’emploi. He is co-author of the blog site, Worthwhile Canadian Initiative.

http://www.jeffreyteam.com/blog/toronto-real-estate-market/the-oversold-story-of-the-canadian-recession/

brought  by Moishe Alexander, CFC  canadian funding corp CEO

There has been fervent discussion about the impact of US recession on Mexico Real Estate and its future prospects. When talking about Mexican Property market, it may seem that it is closely related to the US real estate. Some may very well paint a gloomy picture for Mexico Real Estate market. But an in depth study of Mexico Real Estate will reveal a bright future for Mexican Real Estate in the coming year.

The real estate in Mexico has witnessed steady appreciation in the last 5 years. Both, homes and condos in Mexico, new and resale have contributed to this growth. The real estate market in Mexico is usually popular with American citizens who look for a second home or vacation home in Mexico. The reasons for this popularity have been its close proximity to USA, low cost of living, better value for money and a warm sunny climate. Recent years have seen thousands of American expatriates buying retirement homes in Mexico. Moreover, infrastructure in Mexico has improved to international standards. This has made Mexico a much sought after destination.

You may very well ask why Mexican Real Estate industry won’t suffer as a consequence of the recent fall of US economy.

Destination like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Vallarta , Baja California region are very popular with real estate investors in Mexico. These areas are continually seeing new and grand real estate projects conceived and completed to meet the demands of the buyers eager to buy real estate in Mexico. With the introduction of Mortgage financing for foreign real estate investors in Mexico, the increase of foreign investment has strengthened the growth of real estate market in Mexico. Since, the lending process and criterion for foreign real estate investors has been simplified, it has served in increasing enthusiasm for Mexico real estate.

Mexico real estate market is much more stable than US real estate market. The residential mortgage backed securities, popular in the US property market, are not common in Mexico, so have a much less effect of the sub prime crisis afflicting US economy.

Another factor is that the buying market who are looking for the second vacation home is not really experiencing too much of the current recessionary effects in America.

One very interesting development seen in Mexican real estate market is the increase in real estate investors from Canada. Canada has experienced a very strong dollar in recent times. Strong economy and increased property markets, especially in the main areas of Toronto and Vancouver , have led to a large number of Canadian home owners able to spend money on a second or Vacation Homes in Mexico.

Mexican real estate market seems to be a promising and steady destination for investors throughout the coming years. Recessionary influences of the US have not shown any medium to long term negative impact so far on Mexico Property Market. Foreign investors from Canada and Europe are flocking to Mexico compensating for any dwindling of investment from USA. So go ahead and buy your dream vacation home in Mexico and secure your investment for the future.

Author: Insight Advisors

http://pcmexico.org/right-time-to-invest-in-mexico-real-estate/

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC  canadian funding corp CEO