I couldn't agree more with febpreet, about the need to stay positive. What bothers me, is what the O, the media and vested interest do. With great zeal, they are engaged in the business of forecasting doomsday, refusing to let people believe that there is good news round the corner. Being objective, and freedom of speech is one thing. However when one gets obsessed with something - be it the real estate fall or the swine flu, the causality is truth.

The OP seems to specialize in hijacking every thread with his fancy theories about how farthest we are, from good things happening....At a time like this, when there is a lot of talk about people losing jobs, their homes, and their life savings, the last thing we need, is someone telling us that we are light years away from prosperity.

What is appalling is the candor, and authority with which these news are spread, which could very well turn to be wrong. Even seasoned, skilled and experienced economists can not, agree about the state of the economy...... Given that, how can one, with certainty say when good things will happen (rather these losers refuse to see the good events already happening!)

These prophets of doom carry on with their relentless campaigns to pull down the morale of everyone, but I for one, like many others on this forum, refuse to cow down to these vested interests - I see the light on the horizon already - house prices will stabilize (and even rise), the stock market will flourish, and jobs will be created. Inflation will come, but will be controlled.

This is NOT about my not reading the (unwritten) writing on the wall. This is about my ability to stay positive, to hope & work towards the goals we all cherish - prosperity, good health and peace.

Quote:

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Originally posted by rahul_singh23


ILOVENA and others:
When we are seeing house price going back to normal (down) like oil and other commodity price then why it's called negativity?

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Quote:

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Originally posted by viggy
Btw, today's news:

http://www.680news.com/news/business/more.jsp?content=b066118131

Contractors took out $4.5 billion in building permits in March, up 23.5 per cent from February.

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"Mah deah, there is much more money to be made in the destruction of civilization than in building it up."

-- Rhett Butler in "Gone with the Wind"

Most of the permits are for industrial/commercial buildings...

Thank you ILOVENA for your post.

Meanwhile, here is the latest press release from Toronto Real Estate Board. Sales are definately lower than April 2008, nevertheless, there has been increase from the number sold in March 2009. Here is the excerpt.

Greater Toronto REALTORS® report 8,107 Resales in April

TORONTO, May 6, 2009 - In April 2009, Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 8,107 sales – down seven per cent from April 2008. While April sales remained lower than last year, the resale housing market gained momentum on a month-over-month basis. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales in April, at 80,900, was up 26 per cent from March and up twothirds
compared to January’s ten-year low.**
“Conditions in the resale housing market have improved markedly this spring,” according to TREB President Maureen O’Neill. “Home purchases have increased as households have taken advantage of low interest rates and slightly lower home prices.”
The average price for April transactions was $385,641 – down three per cent from last year.
“The rate of average price decline continued to diminish last month. This is due in large part to a tightening in the resale market,” stated Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “The level of sales relative to new listings increased in April.”
SUMMARY OF APRIL SALES AND AVERAGE PRICE 2009‐2008
April
2009 2008
Sales Average Price Sales Average Price
City of Toronto ("416" 3,222 $421,470 3,467 $446,781
Rest of GTA ("905" 4,885 $362,009 5,295 $370,274
GTA 8,107 $385,641 8,762 $398,687
Source: Toronto Real Estate Board
**Seasonally adjusting TREB MLS® data removes recurring seasonal trends observed each year. For example, MLS® sales are highest in late
spring each year and lowest in the winter months. Removing the recurring seasonality, allows for the analysis of a meaningful trend reflecting
actual changes in market conditions. By multiplying the monthly seasonally-adjusted figure by 12, creating an annual rate, we can compare how
the current month relates to historical annual figures.


For a complete copy of the Market Watch Report visit http://www.TorontoRealEstateBoard.com" rel="nofollow">LINK

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Rajeev Narula, Broker, REALTOR®
ACE TEAM REALTY INC., Brokerage
10 Kingsbridge Garden Circle, Suite 704
(Opp Square One - HWY10/403)
Mississauga, ON L5R 3K6
Bus: 1-888-355-3155 Ext. 300
Fax: 1-888-443-3155
Email:
Web: http://www.RAJEEV.ca" rel="nofollow">LINK

aren't sales in Apr higher than in March in any given year usually?
By how much though?
Is this year's %age increase of Apr over Mar higher this year? Were this year's Mar sales much lower than Mar sales last year?

Anyways, good news is that TSX cracked 10,000 today. Last it was over 10,000 was in Nov.

The W bit about the economy I heard in NYC in Jan. Maybe somebody even said it before then.

Peter's interview came much later.

By many accounts the W is over. Bottom late last year then up and a sorta plateau then pugatory on Mar 6 when low point of S&P 500 hit the magic number 666 (there was a decimal after that - but the first 3 digits represent the beast) and now we are on our way up.

In Jan I also heard that there might be another drop, another high than another drop then the final up, in other words another big drop is imminent perhaps to the lows of late last year or maybe just a little higher, the overall middle picture being more like a Greek mu but the middle going down lower.

Can you guys picture it?

This is not my original, but from a revered academic in the US. Alas, I couldn't draw an analogy to greek letters that form part of all the frats in unis in the US. Also here I believe.
Wish I could upload a graph on this .

http://www.680news.com/news/business/more.jsp?content=b07459012

Canada's painful labour market slide came to an abrupt and surprising end last month as the economy created jobs for the first time six months.

The gain of 35,900 jobs - although all in the self-employment category - kept the official unemployment rate at a seven-year high of eight per cent.

Signs of labour market weakness remain, but even if the self-employment category is discounted, April's data was still far better than the consensus estimate that 50,000 jobs would disappear.