Work is progressing well on the Ressources habitation de l’Ouest and Maison CACI projects that will soon breathe new life into the site of Place de l’Acadie. These two housing projects will provide 223 units for low- and modest-income households in the borough of Ahuntsic – Cartierville, in Montréal.

This observation was made today, on the occasion of the site visit, by Senator Claude Carignan, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; Christine St-Pierre, Member of the National Assembly for Acadie and Minister of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women, on behalf of Laurent Lessard, Minister of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy; and Gérald Tremblay, Mayor of Montréal, in the presence of community partners.

The construction of these units represents an investment of more than $38 million. These projects are being developed thanks to a contribution of nearly $25 million on the part of public partners. The governments of Canada and Quebec are jointly providing close to $17 million through the AccèsLogis Québec program and under the Affordable Housing Initiative Program Extension Agreement signed between Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ). The City of Montréal provided more than $4.8 million, which will be partially repaid by the Montréal Metropolitan Community out of the social housing fund to which the 82 municipalities on its territory contribute, including the City of Montréal, which provides almost half of the funding.

Moreover, some $3 million in financial assistance was provided in equal shares by the Government of Quebec and the City of Montréal, under the Renovation Québec program.

“Our government is committed to giving a hand up to Quebecers who need some help in these tough economic times,” said Senator Carignan. “Through projects like these, our government is providing safe, affordable housing to many residents in our community, while creating jobs and stimulating our economy.”

“The development of these two major projects is excellent news for the people of Montréal and demonstrates the importance that our government attaches to ensuring the wellness of the citizens of Quebec. Thanks to the combined efforts of the different partners, many families and individuals will soon benefit from 223 safe, quality housing units that meet their needs, at an affordable cost, right here in the riding of Acadie,” said Minister St-Pierre.

“The Acadie project is both a victory and a rebirth — a victory for the tenants and a rebirth for a whole neighbourhood and its population. Before, Place de l’Acadie was synonymous with unhealthy, unsafe accommodations and lack of respect for people’s dignity and right to decent housing. Now, Place de l’Acadie is a victory of solidarity and mobilization,” said the Mayor of Montréal.

“The redevelopment of Place de l’Acadie arose from an initiative undertaken by several key players in Bordeaux – Cartierville, including police officers, municipal inspectors, firefighters, CLSC workers, community organizations and local politicians. It is thanks to them that more than 200 families will soon be housed in adequate dwellings and, above all, regain the dignity and pride of living in an interesting environment,” recalled Pierre Gagnier, Mayor of the borough of Ahuntsic – Cartierville.

Among the tenants of the two housing projects, 112 households will be able to benefit from the Rent Supplement program, which provides financial assistance to low-income individuals who would otherwise have to spend more than 25 per cent of their income on housing. In addition, the rent supplements provided will represent, over a five-year period, more than $1.7 million in financial assistance, including $1.5 million from the SHQ and over $170,000 from the City of Montréal.

Since 2003, 11,300 community housing units have been, or are being, developed on the Island of Montréal, including 396 in the riding of Acadie, representing total investments of nearly $1.4 billion.

Thanks to the additional $210 million in funding announced in the Budget Speech delivered on March 30, 2010, the Government of Quebec has increased its target for the development of affordable rental community and private housing from 27,000 to 30,000 units. To date, more than 25,000 of these units have been delivered or are under development.

In 2008, the Government of Canada committed more than $1.9 billion over five years for housing and homelessness programs. This investment extended the Affordable Housing Initiative and the renovation programs for low-income households for two more years. Canada’s Economic Action Plan also provides for an investment of more than $2 billion in new and existing social housing. For Quebec, these combined contributions mean a joint investment of more than $820 million under the Agreement concerning certain residential renovation and adaptation programs, as well as the Affordable Housing Initiative Program Extension Agreement, which includes $538 million for Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

After declining significantly at the beginning of the year, the Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA) housing market has been showing signs of picking up for the past few months. This increase in activity on the housing market is coinciding with an improvement in economic conditions, as several indicators are suggesting that economic growth will soon resume. In this environment, the housing market will be relatively stable in 2010, for both residential construction and resale activity.

Economic conditions have substantially improved since the beginning of the year, as the financial crisis is largely over. Governments’ expansionary monetary and fiscal policies allowed for the massive injection of capital that stabilized the financial markets and revitalized the economies.

In Quebec, the economy is showing signs of an imminent recovery, and GDP is expected to grow in 2010. Employment, which tends to start growing again with some lag behind the economic cycle, should pick up slowly during 2010. The number of jobs should fall by 1.3 per cent this year, which should drive up the unemployment rate to 9.5 per cent in the Montréal CMA. After having increased rapidly since the beginning of the year, the unemployment rate has been rising more slowly in the last few months, as employment has stabilized to a certain extent. Even if the worst of the job losses is now over, the labour market will remain anemic, with a small gain in jobs (+0.4 per cent) next year, which will limit income growth and housing demand. In 2010, the unemployment rate should reach 9.6 per cent.

During the period from September 2008 to September 2009, employment in the Montréal CMA declined by 1.1 per cent from the previous twelve months, as around 21,300 jobs were eliminated. The losses were concentrated in full-time jobs ( 1.3 per cent), as part-time jobs rose slightly (+0.1 per cent). As well, the job cuts particularly affected young people aged from 15 to 24 years ( 3.5 per cent) and also people aged from 25 to 44 years ( 1.3 per cent).

The financial sector has been the hardest hit by the job losses for the past year. In the midst of the crisis that shook the financial markets, the companies in this sector cut their workforces by more than 10 per cent in one year. In all, about 15,000 jobs were eliminated in this sector. The improvement of the situation on the financial markets now seems to have stemmed the hemorrhage of jobs in this sector.

A more significant sector in terms of number of jobs, trade–and more particularly retail trade–also registered considerable job losses in the last twelve months ( 7 per cent). In fact, more than 16,000 jobs were eliminated in this sector, but the situation should stabilize over the coming quarters, as economic conditions improve.

After having declined for four consecutive years, employment in the manufacturing sector seems to have stabilized in recent quarters but, with the strong Canadian dollar, the recovery in this sector remains uncertain. The slowdown of the Montréal housing market at the beginning of 2009 sharply affected employment in the construction sector, which had posted two years of solid growth. The massive investments in infrastructure will support employment in this sector in the Montréal area in 2010.

A new forecast from a major Canadian real estate company predicts that the national housing market is stabilizing, after seeing a “remarkable turnaround” in the second quarter of 2009.

Royal LePage predicts that the selling price of the average house will drop by only two per cent this year — an improvement over the real estate company’s prior forecast from six months ago that predicted a three per cent drop.

The real estate company also predicts that the number of unit sales will drop about one per cent in 2009 to an estimated 430,000 sales.

Phil Soper, the president and CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services, said that the forecast adjustment is the result of the improved real estate sales numbers seen in the second quarter of this year.

“We’ve got the most important quarter in the real estate calendar behind us — the second quarter — and it really was a remarkable turnaround,” Soper said during an interview on CTV’s Canada AM on Tuesday morning.

“As steep as the decline was, the bounce-back was just as dramatic,” he added.

While the year’s second quarter saw housing prices beginning to appreciate, the average national housing prices still remain below their values from 12 months ago.

According to the Royal LePage figures:

* The average price of a detached bungalow declined to $327,964, about 3.5 per cent below what it was the year before
* The average price of a two-storey home was down 3.7 per cent to $392,378
* The average price of a condominium dropped four per cent to $236,612

Soper said a combination of lower mortgage prices and a housing supply shortage in parts of Canada helped push the market upward during the second quarter.

But he cautioned that the market still has a long way to go, when it comes to recovering the value lost during the recent setback.

“It’s going to look better for the second half of this year,” he said. “It’s not going to be a startlingly good year like earlier in the decade, but I think just the bounce-back, the comeback from where we were, is going to make a lot of Canadians feel a lot more comfortable about the homes they live in.”

In many Western Canadian cities, including Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, housing prices are still between 10 and 15 per cent below what they were a year ago, Soper said. But they are “gaining back ground,” he said.

In Ontario, Royal LePage said Ottawa would likely see stable prices throughout 2009, with Toronto’s market stabilizing towards the end of the year.

Montreal is expected to remain a strong real estate market this year, helped by low interest and unemployment rates.

In Atlantic Canada, housing prices were much more stable than in cities further west in Canada throughout the recession, meaning that their pricing fluctuations have been less volatile overall, Soper said.

And according to the Royal LePage figures, demand for housing has so far been strong in 2009, due to strong local economies coupled with moderate housing prices.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090707/real_estate_090707/20090707?hub=CanadaAM

brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Given that sales will fall and listings will rise, the market will ease slightly over the coming year. Average resale prices will continue to increase, but more slowly than in recent years.

A higher proportion of condominium sales will take place in the suburbs and in the less expensive sectors on the Island of Montréal, which will contribute to limiting the growth in prices. For the market overall, prices will therefore rise by 4 per cent in 2008 and by 3 per cent in 2009. Still, on the whole, the market will remain favourable to sellers in the short term and gradually ease toward more balanced conditions in 2009.

Here is the break down of the report:

• Mortgage rates are expected to be relatively stable
• Resale market will be moderately slow
• Condominiums will maintain more demand than single family houses
• Supply of home listings with increase slightly.
• Affordable homes are expected to register increases in starts.
• Prices for single family homes and plexes will go up by an average 4 % in 2009
• Condo prices are expected to grow by 3%

Now, let’s take a look at the details…

Change of pace for the economy

In 2009, despite the anticipated decrease in residential construction, several nonresidential projects announced by the different levels of governments, such as the replacement of the Turcot Interchange and the modernization of Notre-Dame Street, will boost employment growth in the construction sector.
However, the level of activity in the manufacturing sector will moderate.

Mortgage rates are expected to be relatively stable

“Posted mortgage rates will decrease slightly in the first half of 2009 as the cost of credit to financial institutions eases. Rising bond yields, however, will nudge mortgage rates marginally higher in the latter half 2009.”

**Note: The Back of Canada already made cuts to the interest rates. Check the December 9th press release.
The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is 20 January 2009.

Resale market to slow moderately

The growth in prices will be slower for existing homes than for new homes, which will widen the price gap between them and consequently prompt more buyers to turn to the resale market.
While slightly less active, the resale market will still remain strong. The sales levels forecast for 2008 and 2009 will exceed the annual average of 39,000 transactions recorded for the period from 2002 to 2007.

Condominiums will maintain the upper hand

Condominiums—the only housing type that will register an increase in sales in 2008—will sustain a less significant decline in demand than single-family houses or plexes 2009.
Affordable housing types, such as condominiums, and homes located in less expensive geographic sectors, are managing better.

Slightly more supply on the market

This is good news, says Moishe Alexander

Montreal Listing Trends 2009

Currently, the supply of homes is growing. Listings started to rise again in the second quarter of 2008, and there is every indication that they will end the year up by 7 per cent over 2007. As well, we forecast that they will maintain this momentum in 2009, with an increase of 9 per cent. At the end of 2008, an average of 22,300 active listings per month will have been registered in the GMREB MLS® system for the Montréal CMA.

Affordable homes will again stand out

Overall, total starts will fall this year. However, the opposite will hold true for more affordable housing types, which are expected to register increases in starts. After having exploded in 2007, with a gain of 35 per cent, semi-detached and row housing starts will maintain their momentum this year and rise by 14 per cent to 2,200 units.

Condominium starts will increase, to a lesser extent.

In 2009, these two housing types will again stand out. Semi-detached and row home starts will stay at the same level as in 2008, while condominium starts will register a smaller decrease than the declines that will be recorded for single detached home building and rental housing construction. In all, 7,700 new condominium units will be started next year, or 4 per cent fewer than in 2008.

The downward trend in single detached home starts

Single Detached Housing Starts

It began a few years ago, will continue. Because these houses are more expensive, also because the population is aging and households are getting smaller, the need for more spacious homes is less significant than before.