Here's a recent press release following an extraordinary year in real estate in Saskatchewan.
The following article from a BMO economist is an interesting read. There's been alot of speculation whether the down turn in the U.S. economy will effect Canada. While we all know it will, the impact on real estate specifically will be time sensitive. We wish we all had a crystal ball.
Here's the read:
In further evidence of a U.S. recession, retailers suffered their worst month in five years in January, which undoubtedly will have broader implications on the economy and financial distress. Credit card usage is down, shopping centre traffic is down and online purchases have slowed. Even gift card redemptions were disappointing in January following a disappointing Christmas. Anecdotal evidence suggests consumers are using gift cards to finance purchases of staples rather than treats. The retail slowdown sends shock waves to retail landlords, commercial construction, container ports and U.S. and global manufacturers of consumer products. Moreover, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) have declined in value and banks are tightening credit to commercial developers as loan losses are set to mount.
While Chinese officials may be pleased that their economy is slowing from the overheated pace of 2007, G7 countries cannot afford to see the U.S. consumer pull back.
Major U.S. chain stores have announced layoffs and store closings. For example, Macy’s Inc. announced 2,300 layoffs, Home Depot is cutting 500 jobs and since December, retail chains have announced plans to close at least 900 locations, with many more to come. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, an estimated 5,770 retail locations will close this year -- a 25% increase over 2007, and the highest figure since 2004. Women's specialty retailers, which have been slumping for more than a year, have unveiled plans to cut more than 1,000 jobs as a group.
Commercial real estate activity will soften as retail vacancy rates have increased over the past year. The Federal Reserve's latest survey of senior loan officers indicates 80% of domestic banks tightened lending standards on commercial real-estate loans in the past three months -- the highest level since the question was first asked in 1990. In January, no commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) -- pools of commercial real-estate loans -- were issued. According to industry sources, it’s the first time that this has happened since October 1990.
With an eerie similarity to the collapsed residential CDO market, the credit default rates on CMBS are rising, tripling since the start of the year on CMBS originated in 2005 and early 2006. Commercial loan losses at banks are set to rise sharply.
Nonresidential construction has been an important cushion for the U.S. economy. This year that cushion will be gone, triggering another dampener on construction employment.
Container traffic is also down, reflecting souring expectations for future retail sales and attempts by merchants to hold inventories down. Advertising has slumped as well, negatively impacting newspapers and magazines.
Canadians may benefit with broadened access to American retailers as many are opening their online stores to international shoppers.
Washington’s tax rebate checks are intended to spur U.S. consumption, but most retailers are leery of a meaningful impact. Consumer confidence is way down and rising job losses will encourage shoppers to tighten their belts. The Fed is expected to further cut interest rates when they meet again on March 18, but recent Fed talk suggests that inflation worries have not disappeared and the FOMC might be reluctant to jump in too aggressively this time having already reduced rates in giant steps the past two moves.
Dr. Sherry Cooper
Executive Vice-President, Global Economic Strategist, BMO Financial Group
Chief Economist, BMO Capital Markets & BMO Nesbitt Burns
We keep hearing about another strong year for real estate in the Regina and surrounding area. It's wide-spread across most of Saskatchewan for the most part. A recent poll indicated Regina and Saskatoon will lead the nation in housing price increases with high demand and low supply. The new construction business is booming as well as per the following recent article: http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=604eb337-5970-4d43-89df-744e55fb2373&k=44840
Finally took a break from running up and down the fairways of the Plantation Course. We estimated we walked/ran about 15km per day. Monday was a great day to just lay on the beach and soak up a few rays. We saw a school (herd?) of humpback whales about 1/2 km off the beach. There must have been about 8 of them breaching, waving the tails etc. Quite a sight. Great meal again at the Hula Grill. Service was fantastic as well. Today is sunny and hot again in the mid 80's. We might head down into the crater of Mount Haleakula if we get time. Whatever happens, it's all good to just relax. Real estate market in Maui seems to be quite stable. There are many homes, condos and time shares for sale. There is a little difficulty getting a gauge of value. This is where the help of a Realtor on the island would be extremely beneficial. 
The final round for the leader Mike Weir didn't get off to a great start after driving his tee shot on the first hole into the tall grass. He ended up with a bogey and fell out of the lead. Things got worse on the 4th hole when a radio announcer doing play by play was talking too loud in Weir's backswing on the green. Weir actually backed away from his putt and was very upset. This was the same announcer that talked during his backswing on Saturday. Weir was so upset he stormed off the green yelling at the guy "Mark! Mark! Come on, man!". The announcer did nothing and Weir couldn't recover. The crowds were so big following Weir that it was tough seeing anything around the green as people were 6-7 people deep. We started following our second favourite Daniel Chopra from Sweden who was in the group ahead. The gallery wasn't as crazy, and he was playing really well. He ended up 7 under for the day, tied with Steve Stricker after 18. Chopra had numerous opportunities to win it, but hits putts all were coming up short. They went to a playoff hole back to the the 18th and they were both tied again, so they played 1, 2 & 9. Chopra drove the green in 2 on the long par 5, 9th hole and left his eagle putt on the lip for victory. Stricker missed his birdie putt, so Chopra claimed victory. Deb was quite happy. We waited around for an autograph, but he was too busy with the media (darn media-types) that we couldn't get him to sign anything. We went for a nice supper down at Lahaina at the Lahaina Fish House with Paris and Rod from B.C. Really nice people. Ran into some Reginan's in the restaurant. Back home and to bed after watching a few hilights on TV. So after 6 days of unning up and down the golf course, today could be a great day to lounge around the beach and rest.
The weather conditions during Round 2 were much better than Round 1 for the golfers AND and the spectators. We actually didn't get any rain until the 18th hole. We followed Weir again for most of the day. He was paired up with young Aussie Aaron Baddeley. Weir again was average through the first 8 holes, but surged again starting with an eagle on 9! He's the only golfer to hit the 9th green in 2 this week. He has a one shot lead over fellow Canadian Stephen Ames. They will be paired in the final group today. Again, in Weir fashion, he signed autographs for everybody after 18. Deb was ecstatic that she got her Mercedes hat signed. Ames on the other hand, snubbed everybody (including the massive Canadian contingent that's here). And you wonder why Weir is more popular with the fans???? It's pretty obvious. We weren't really planning on watching Round 3, but with Weir in the lead, we don't want to miss any of the action! Last night we went to the Maui Brewing Company and had a great burger! The Golf Channel was on and of course our eyes were glued to the TV! It's neat seeing the hilights as we were right there for most of them. During post game interviews, I noticed this one fan behind Stephen Ames who looked very familiar with her rain poncho and Roughrider hat. My God, it''s Deb! She's a TV star now. She's very excited to be on her favourite TV channel. Last night was second night in our B&B. It's nice with a large wrap-a-round deck overlooking the bay. Funny that breakfast is only served Monday to Friday. That's okay, because the breakfast wasn't that great anyways. Howard and Sue arrived last night and we're looking forward to hooking up with them at some point. 
The Plantation Course at Kapalua is supposedly the hardest course on tour to walk. There are a couple holes that the players will actually get shuttled to the next hole. Not the gallery of course. A lady we met had a step-meter with her and she figured she walked close to 5 miles on the front 9 alone because we were always back and forth and not tee to green. We followed Mike Weir for most of the entire round. He had trouble putting, but managed to shake off a shaky front nine where he was +1 and managed a -2 final score. He was paired with young Swede Daniel Chopra who had a share of the lead at the time of this at -4. He was on fire. He hits the ball long, has a great iron game and sank some doozy putts. Weather was typical with scattered showers here and there. We had rain jackets to keep dry, but the problem is it that's it's still 26 degrees out, so with the jacket you're dry from the rain, but you end up sweating and your shirt is wet anyways. I don't think I'll be taking the jacket back tomorrow. Again, Weir was so accommodating with autographs for the obvious pro-Canadian crowd (all the tourists). He signed for everybody after his round was complete which I thought was a great gesture. Deb got her beloved Riders cap signed and her tournament pass. We'll see what happens tomorrow. We checked into our B&B this afternoon and checked out of the Outrigger. Tonight, we're off to Willie Nelson's bar with our new friend Paris from Victoria who we met yesterday and hung around him again today. The BlueBomber fans were quick to comment on Deb's cap and offered up congratulations on the Riders big Grey Cup win. There were Stamps fans there too, but didn't bother to say anything! That's okay.
The start of our winter getaway began, as usual, with an early morning trek to the Regina International Airport. Flying used to be a novelty and something fun to look forward to. Nowadays with all of the intense security, what you can bring, what you can't bring is a little excessive in my opinion. Come on, really, is my chapstick really a threat to security. Then there's the airlines themselves, and one in particular which will remain nameless but you can likely guess which one if you've flown alot and it's not WestJet. We booked our flights a few months back, double checked that Deb and I were sitting next to each other and low and behold when we arrived at the checkout counter, we were in different seats. Arrgh! No big deal. After a coffee and some toast we were fine. Afterall, we're headed to warmer climates. Now that we've arrived in Vancouver (direcdt flight from Regina), we found out that the airline decided we didn't need our golf clubs and didn't put them on the plane! Arrggh! This is the 4th time in a row flying with this airline where they have not put my clubs on. I understand that the plane might be full, but who's to say that I don't have anything important in my golfclub bag? The fortunate ones are the people who jam packed two full suitcases, 2 full carry-on bags and a laptop and everything they have goes through. Just because I have one suitcase and clubs shouldn't give them the power to arbitrarily decide that the clubs aren't important. I was going to pack the shaving kit in my golf club bag, but decided to throw it in my other suitcase.. thank goodness. As I write this during our 7 hour layover in Vancouver, our clubs are yet to be found and maybe on route to Edmonton, but nobody seems to know. Oh, the joys of flying. Somebody needs a holiday. 
Many people I've encountered recently are saying it's "unbelievable" that the Riders have advanced to the Grey Cup. While it's been a great run, I truly believe it's actually "believable"! Kent Austin has a way with players that I haven't seen for a long time. He holds everyone accountable to their actions, he treats everyone the same, and expects the same result from each player regardless of where they are on the depth chart. This team is focussed. It's been focussed since training camp and while the season is a long and arduous one at times, the focus has been on the "now" and not the past. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a very good football team, and despite losing Kevin Glenn to a broken arm, the Riders will not take them lightly. The offence still has to line up against a very good Winnipeg defence. The Riders' special teams still have to contend with Stokes and Charles Roberts. Don't be fooled. This game will be closer than expected, but the Riders will prevail. Coach Austin will see to that.
Lakeridge, Regina - 4822 Mazinke Crescent, a 1,514 sq. ft., 2 bath, 2 bdrm bungalow. Now $412,000 - Custom Stone Homes.
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• 1,215 sq. ft., 2 bath, 2 bdrm 2 story - $199,900
Garden Ridge, Regina - Lovely Blackbourne Court condo in Garden Ridge. Single attached garage with direct entry. Many upgrades incl. oak hardwood floors, ceramic tile upon entry and in half-bath on main floor, crown mouldings and lighting fixtures. 2 good sized bedrooms on second floor, accented by spacious family room with open concept to main level. Basement adds extra storage space, and is open for development. Shows very well. Condo fees $150/month. Possession 30 or 60 days negotiable. Call Craig Adam for your private showing!
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CBC Television has a weekly show called Living Saskatchewan. I've been blessed with the opportunity to provide my insight into the real estate market on a couple of episodes. The first one ran Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2007. You can check it out on-line for a week at www.cbc.ca/livingsaskatchewan. Tell me what you think! I encourage your critique!
Our market generally heats up in the spring, but we're already seeing a surge in the province over the past few weeks. Experts are saying this will continue through the first half of the year, but could tail off by the end of '07. We'll have to wait and see. Multiple offers are still common, however, it all comes down to pricing the property correctly. There are homes on the market that are good houses, but haven't sold because somebody has overestimated the value.
The Granville IV by Munro Homes
• 1,651 sq. ft., 3 bath, 3 bdrm bi-level - $323,802 - Includes lot and GST
Lakeridge, Regina - Executive living! Gorgeous plan by Award winning Munro Homes. Approx. 1651 sq.ft 2 story/bi-level. Master bedroom on main level with 4 piece ensuite. Power room on main floor with vaulted ceilings, loads of natural light. Large Great Room with spacious kitchen and dinette. 2 large bedrooms and bathroom on upper level. Price includes lot and GST. 535-9363. Also go to www.munrohomes.com for information.
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