Canada is now the fastest growing advanced economy in the world, reveals a survey conducted by Royal lePage.
According to the Royal LePage House Price Survey released earlier this month, the growth is largely due to strong housing markets and rising house prices, strong exports to an expanding United States market, domestic infrastructure spending and stabilizing commodity prices.
“Canada is now the fastest growing advanced economy in the world, and most new Canadians are building their new lives in Ontario,” Phil Soper said. “With high household formation levels driven by expanding employment opportunities, we are playing catch-up with the supply of housing. In a low-interest rate environment, many of these people will want to purchase a home, which is going to put further upward pressure on home prices.”
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Leading Canada’s economic growth is British Columbia.
In 2016, B.C. witnessed the fastest employment growth among the provinces.
Although a number of forecasters predict British Columbia's growth to slow in 2017, they still expect the province to be a leader of economic growth in Canada.
According to figures released from a major Canadian financial institution earlier this year, British Columbia is expected to tie Ontario with a growth rate of 2.3 percent for the year - exceeding the national average.
However, despite the good news, Soper warns there are some risks that could hinder economic growth in B.C. and Canada overall.
"The overall Canadian market is healthier in 2017 than it has been in years, yet the downside risks are greater too," concluded Soper. "Our economy, which has recovered nicely from the 2014 oil crisis, is sadly dependent on moves by an unpredictable U.S. federal government and can be swayed by unforeseen global events, such as fallout from Europe's restructuring.”
“Still, housing activity is strong and prices are rising at a healthy mid-single-digit rate across the land,” continued Soper. “The trend in Alberta, Quebec and Atlantic Canada is particularly encouraging. Our concerns with the state of Canadian real estate begin and end in Toronto and Vancouver."