[Source - Dominion Lending Centres - April 8, 2009]
CMHC reports that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts increased to 154,700 units in March from 136,100 units in February.
“Higher multiple starts in Ontario and Quebec were the main contributors to the rise in new construction activity in March,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC’s Market Analysis Centre. “While the multiples segment experienced the largest increase, the overall boost in starts was broad-based, encompassing the singles segment as well.”
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased 17% in March. Urban multiple starts increased 28.3% while urban single starts moved up by 1.3% in March.
March’s seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 35% in Ontario and by 23.3% in Quebec. Urban starts declined by 17.3% in British Columbia, by 7.9% in Atlantic Canada, and by 7.5% in the Prairies.
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Canada still faces big job losses but it is also well poised to emerge quickly and strongly from recession when recovery begins, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in an interview broadcast Friday.
“We all know that we have a massive and growing employment problem,” he told the Business News Network. “We’ve seen dramatic drops in output, dramatic rises in unemployment in the last four months... We anticipate more big job losses.”
He said, however, that Canadian statistics are better than other members of the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, with real underlying strengths that should enable a strong recovery. – Reuters
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The G20 will stand together to engage in additional stimulus plans aimed at creating jobs, cleaning up financial institutions and stimulating emerging market economies, according to the communiqué released on Thursday.
“We face the greatest challenge to the world economy in modern times,” reads the document, which pledges to “do whatever is necessary” to restore confidence, growth and jobs.
The G20 member nations have also vowed to repair the financial system in order to restore lending, strengthen financial regulation that will rebuild trust, and fund and reform international financial institutions to overcome the crisis and prevent future ones. The communiqué said actions will also work to promote global trade and investment, and reject protectionism.
The communiqué says that by 2010, member nations will have pumped $5 trillion in stimulus measures and will add an additional $1.1 trillion in global stimulus through the IMF and other international agencies. The efforts should raise global output by 4%, said the communiqué. – CEP News
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With the US unemployment rate at a 26-year high and home sales still in the dumps, a growing number of homebuilders and even some real estate agents are trying to coax buyers with a kind of mortgage unemployment insurance.
Builders can pay anywhere from $450 to $900 per customer for the coverage. Some absorb the cost as they would any other sales promotion, while others pass it on to buyers. – Associated Press
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