Daryl Katz, owner of the Edmonton Oilers and a frequent face in the news because of the downtown arena debate, just got $920 million richer. He sold a large portion of this pharmacological business to McKesson Corporation. That means that Medicine Shoppe Canada and Drug Trading Company Limited will be under the control of owners south of the border. Katz retains the Rexall and Rexall/Pharma Plus brands.
Stephen Mandel, Edmonton’s mayor, thinks the city should get into the waste management business. This developing field could help the city get rid of its waste problem and put money in the city’s coffers. Mandel thinks that a city owned firm could prove to be a leader in the field and make billions of dollars at the same time.
The National Bank and a firm known as Teranet co-opt to publish their House Price Index that tracks home values in an assortment of Canadian locales on a monthly basis. Up until this report, there were six cities in total. Now, with the addition of Quebec City, Hamilton, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Victoria, there are 11 cities used to produce a country-wide picture.
Homes in Canada’s already strong real estate market are becoming more affordable. RBC’s third quarter report shows that the affordability measure improved, unlike the lagging first and second quarters of this year. The index numbers fell, meaning that in most parts of Canada, homeownership is still within the grasp of many.
The Conference Board of Canada just released its Metro Resale Index for the month of September. The report noted that while sales in the housing market were relatively balanced, the prices on homes were continuing to rise. Of the 28 markets studied, 25 of those were considered balanced. August saw 24 balanced markets. Prices in those markets did show year-over-year increases.
Sometimes people find themselves with a mortgage that has the makings of disaster. Usually this happens in a fluctuating economy, like now, where rates are extremely low and, at least in the United States, many homes are worth less than the balance on those mortgages. But there are some things you can do to minimize the financial damage.
The good news: September housing starts in Canada have increased by 7.3 percent as compared to a year ago. This is even better news for certain provinces, as they witnessed even stronger growth during the month.
Commercial and residential financing are two different animals. The dividing line is often as simple as that between buying a simple four-plex and something just a bit bigger. That bit bigger changes all the rules. If you are buying an eight-plex, that means you are in the market for a commercial mortgage. Many investors don’t find this out until they are already into a property deal.
So far 2011 has been an iffy year for domestic tourism in Canada. During the second quarter of this year, tourism spending dropped by 0.1 percent. Before that, the industry saw seven quarters of steady gains. Statistics Canada also noted that most of the spending was coming from foreign visitors.
Planning on moving to Alberta anytime soon? You are not alone. The attraction of plentiful, well paying jobs, lower housing costs and having more disposable income is causing many people across the country to pull up roots and move West, or East for that matter.
