Lansdowne Park is going to be the site of two great shows in April:  the Cottage Show runs concurrently with the Big Backyard Show over the Easter weekend (April 9-11) and we have some tickets to give away!

How to enter:

We’re giving away 2 tickets to the April 7th game between the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins - this is our last hockey draw of the season.

 Entry deadline is 4 p.m. on April 2nd

 How to enter:

Go to my website (www.caroleevans.com) and look through my CURRENT listings for a picture of a hummingbird (spring is in the air you know!!).  In the comments section below enter your:

• name
• phone numbers
• best email to reach you at
• the address of the house where you found the picture of the hummingbird
• and the word “Clients” if you are a current or past client (in which case your name goes into the draw twice).

***NOTE: Your name & entry will not be visible on the public site****The draw will be April 2nd and the winner’s name posted on the blog and notified.GOOD LUCK! BOTH TO YOU AND THE SENATORS!!!

Worthwhile Canadian Initiative;Copyright (C) 2009 Newsweek Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The legendary editor of The New Republic, Michael Kinsley, once held a “Boring Headline Contest” and decided that the winner was “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative.” Twenty-two years later, the magazine was rescued from its economic troubles by a Canadian media company, which should have taught us Americans to be a bit more humble. Now there is even more striking evidence of Canada’s virtues. Guess which country, alone in the industrialized world, has not faced a single bank failure, calls for bailouts or government intervention in the financial or mortgage sectors. Yup, it’s Canada. In 2008, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada’s banking system the healthiest in the world. America’s ranked 40th, Britain’s 44th. Canada has done more than survive this financial crisis. The country is positively thriving in it. Canadian banks are well capitalized and poised to take advantage of opportunities that American and European banks cannot seize. The Toronto Dominion Bank, for example, was the 15th-largest bank in North America one year ago. Now it is the fifth-largest. It hasn’t grown in size; the others have all shrunk.

So what accounts for the genius of the Canadians? Common sense. Over the past 15 years, as the United States and Europe loosened regulations on their financial industries, the Canadians refused to follow suit, seeing the old rules as useful shock absorbers. Canadian banks are typically leveraged at 18 to 1—compared with U.S. banks at 26 to 1 and European banks at a frightening 61 to 1. Partly this reflects Canada’s more risk-averse business culture, but it is also a product of old-fashioned rules on banking. Canada has also been shielded from the worst aspects of this crisis because its housing prices have not fluctuated as wildly as those in the United States. Home prices are down 25 percent in the United States, but only half as much in Canada. Why? Well, the Canadian tax code does not provide the massive incentive for overconsumption that the U.S. code does: interest on your mortgage isn’t deductible up north. In addition, home loans in the United States are “non-recourse,” which basically means that if you go belly up on a bad mortgage, it’s mostly the bank’s problem. In Canada, it’s yours. Ah, but you’ve heard American politicians wax eloquent on the need for these expensive programs—interest deductibility alone costs the federal government $100 billion a year—because they allow the average Joe to fulfill the American Dream of owning a home. Sixty-eight percent of Americans own their own homes. And the rate of Canadian homeownership? - It’s 68.4 percent.

Canada has been remarkably responsible over the past decade or so. It has had 12 years of budget surpluses, and can now spend money to fuel a recovery from a strong position. The government has restructured the national pension system, placing it on a firm fiscal footing, unlike our own insolvent Social Security. Its health-care system is cheaper than America’s by far (accounting for 9.7 percent of GDP, versus 15.2 percent here), and yet does better on all major indexes. Life expectancy in Canada is 81 years, versus 78 in the United States; “healthy life expectancy” is 72 years, versus 69. American car companies have moved so many jobs to Canada to take advantage of lower health-care costs that since 2004, Ontario and not Michigan has been North America’s largest car-producing region.

I could go on. The U.S. currently has a brain-dead immigration system. We issue a small number of work visas and green cards, turning away from our shores thousands of talented students who want to stay and work here. Canada, by contrast, has no limit on the number of skilled migrants who can move to the country. They can apply on their own for a Canadian Skilled Worker Visa, which allows them to become perfectly legal “permanent residents” in Canada—no need for a sponsoring employer, or even a job. Visas are awarded based on education level, work experience, age and language abilities. If a prospective immigrant earns 67 points out of 100 total (holding a Ph.D. is worth 25 points, for instance), he or she can become a full-time, legal resident of Canada. Companies are noticing. In 2007 Microsoft, frustrated by its inability to hire foreign graduate students in the United States, decided to open a research center in Vancouver. The company’s announcement noted that it would staff the center with “highly skilled people affected by immigration issues in the U.S.” So the brightest Chinese and Indian software engineers are attracted to the United States, trained by American universities, then thrown out of the country and picked up by Canada—where most of them will work, innovate and pay taxes for the rest of their lives.

If President Obama is looking for smart government, there is much he, and all of us, could learn from our quiet—OK, sometimes boring—neighbours to the north. Meanwhile, in the councils of the financial world, Canada is pushing for new rules for financial institutions that would reflect its approach. This strikes me as, well, a worthwhile Canadian initiative.

This week City’s Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee has approved the purchase of the natural environmental land beside Deevy Pines Park (Bridlewood Core Park). Provided it is approved by council next week, the purchase will go ahead.The land is the last forested area within Bridlewood. It’s location means that a large number of Bridlewood residents will be able to enjoy the area. In fact many people are under the impression the land is already parkland.

In the report on Urban Natural Features in the City the land is described as having a high ecological value. The site includes several rare species of plants and animals.

Because the land was zoned for development many years ago, purchasing the land was the only way to protect it. If the City had not agreed to buy the land, the zoning would have allowed high density housing.

Getting the land protected has taken a lot of work. Urbandale and the City have not been able to agreed on a final price so far so a dispute resolution process will be used. However, by purchasing this land we will be able to protect the last natural area within Bridlewood.

We’re giving away 2 tickets to the Feb. 24th game between the Ottawa Senators and the Caroloina Hurricanes!

Entry deadline is Feb. 20th.

 How to enter:

In the comments section below enter your:

• name
• phone numbers
• best email to reach you at
• and the word “Clients” if you are a current or past client. (in which case your name goes into the draw twice).

***NOTE: Your name & entry will not be visible on the public site****

The draw will be February 20th, at 3:00 pm and the winner’s name posted on the blog and notified.

GOOD LUCK! BOTH TO YOU AND THE SENATORS!!!

It kills me when I go and preview a property that has just come on the market and I know that it is a great buy yet I do not have a client at the moment who is actively searching for that particular house. Keep an eye out on this blog for details on properties that I see (not that I have listed) that I think would be a great buy/investment for someone.

Here is today’s find: 3 bedroom, finished basement, ensuite, garage, freehold, main floor family room with gas fireplace, Kanata, walk to shops and buses (as if that is any good!), and under $240,000.

If you have anyone…………let them know asap because it will NOT last. I will make the arrangements to go and show it to them.

I received the following from Nancy MacCallum, a Mortgage Planner with Mortgage Architects here in Ottawa:

Economic pundits say the worst may be over.

·         TSX +51.40pts (Reuters) for a 5th straight session, supported by rising energy shares, which climbed along with oil prices, and by a rally in financials.

·         DOW -81.80pts stocks fell on all 3 main indices as investors took some profits following four days of positive gains.

·         Dollar +1.7c to $.84.03US.

·          Oil +$2.47to $48.81US per barrel. helped up by worries over the effects of Israel’s attacks on Gaza and a market dispute that has resulted in a cut to Russia’s natural gas output to the Ukraine has also benefited oil

·         Gold -$21. to $857.80US per ounce

           www.bankofcanada.ca/en/rates/bond-look.html  Canadian bond prices

Overall sentiment was lifted by a meeting involving Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney with country’s top bank executives on Monday to urge the banks loosen up lending to try to get the economy moving. Flaherty may comment on the talks on Tuesday.

Economic pundits say the worst may be over Alia McMullen, Financial Post

Canada has begun 2009 with a financial crisis, a global economic slowdown, political unease at home and the emergence of a new ideology in the United States. Amid the uncertainty, the National Post and Canadian Club’s 32nd Annual Outlook, presented by Scotiabank, Monday brought together an economist and three Financial Post columnists to present their thoughts on what the year might hold. None expects 2009 to be easy, and while there is a high risk of more market shocks to come, there is an equally good chance that the worst is over.

Warren Jestin

The chief economist at Scotiabank says 2009 will be a “challenging year; one that suggests that prudent management, cautious spending is the order of the day.” It will also be a year marked by global synchronicity. Global growth will decline to 1%-1.5% as consumers feel the fallout of declining stock markets, slowing economies, and falling real estate values. In Canada, the economy won’t begin to recover for another six months, and even then the process will be slow. There remains a high risk another unforeseen event, such as the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, will shock the markets. He says interest rates will fall further and the Canadian dollar will likely stay between about US80-85 cents. And while food prices may rise, overall price pressures will remain deflationary.

Terrence Corcoran

The editor of the Financial Post says the stock market is likely sitting at the bottom of a trough and will recover in the next 12 months. However, government interference in the financial markets and economy through regulations and stimulus packages could block a recovery. “Until governments settle down … the markets will remain dangerous and uncertain,” he says. He questions whether investors will buy shares in financial and automotive companies that will be forced to comply with strict rules as conditions to receive government assistance. And while he says he does not really believe in astrology, it is interesting to note that 2009 is the Chinese year of the Ox. Five of the last seven Ox years have produced a bull stock market run. The 2008 year of the rat predicted recession and turmoil.

John Ivison

The political correspondent at the National Post expects sanity will return to the Hill in 2009 after the coalition shakeup at the end of last year resulted in a prorogued parliament. “It shocks me to say this, but 2009 might actually bring out the best in our politicians,” he says. The Stephen Harper minority conservative government is also likely to retain power, with the Liberals, under the new leadership of Michael Ignatieff, expected to support the federal budget. He says there eventually will be an election between Mr. Harper and Mr. Ignatieff, but the later needs time to build his public profile. In the meantime, the Harper government will begin to prepare Canada for growing labour shortages as the Baby Boomer generation retires by pumping money into training and retraining.

Diane Francis

The Financial Post editor-at-large says 2009 will certainly not be worse than 2008, but the global economy has sunk into a state that is somewhat equivalent to a depression. However, this depression will differ from that of the past, leaving behind the long food lines, and bracing an era of historic international co-operation. She expects those that abused the financial system to be held accountable amid the birth of a new order of global market oversight organizations. “Like the last Great Depression, we are going to be in for some sweeping reforms,” she says. The inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20 and the switch to a stimulatory economic policy of Obamanomics could also present challenges for Canada. “He will cut taxes, which will force us to cut taxes,” she says.

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Canadian homebuilders deny market headed for meltdown

No parallels with U.S. Eric Beauchesne, Canwest News Service

OTTAWA - The Canadian housing market is cooling but is not facing a U.S. style meltdown, builders here say.

“A few commentators have drawn a parallel between the Canadian housing situation and the extreme difficulties in the housing market in the United States,” the Canadian Homebuilders say in a report Monday that dismisses such comparisons.

“There is absolutely no merit in drawing such a parallel,” it said in a report that contends the pace of housing construction in Canada is merely returning to a level that is consistent with underlying housing requirements following the boom of recent years.

“The housing situation in Canada is totally different from that of the U.S.,” it said. “There will be some price moderation in some markets, but there is nothing to suggest that housing markets in Canada are vulnerable to the oversupplies and plunging prices that characterize many markets in the U.S.

“We did not experience the same housing boom conditions that occurred in the U.S., and there is no reason to expect that we are in for the serious pain they are currently suffering,” it said.

The moderation of house prices will improve affordability and create opportunities for first-time home buyers, it said. Meanwhile, existing homeowners have little to fear.

“For those selling a home and buying another, the moderation of housing prices should be relative - there should be no significant gain or loss from the easing of house prices,” it said.

“For those who have owned a home for some period, their equity will be substantial, given the rising prices of the past few years,” it said. “For those who purchased their home recently, there should be few worries about a modest temporary reduction in value.”

To support its argument that the Canadian housing market is not going the way of the U.S. market, it cited a variety of differences:

• Unlike in the U.S., underwriting standards for qualifying mortgage borrowers in Canada have been maintained at prudent levels resulting in mortgage borrowers here being much more creditworthy;

• Canadian mortgage lenders never offered low initial ‘teaser’ rate mortgages that led to most of the difficulties for mortgage borrowers in the U.S.;

• Most mortgages in Canada are held by their original lender, not packaged and sold to third parties as is typical in the U.S., and consequently, Canadian mortgage lenders have a vested interest in ensuring that their mortgage borrowers are creditworthy and not likely to default;

• Only 0.3% of Canadian mortgages are in arrears versus 4.5% in the U.S. and what even before the start of the U.S. housing meltdown two years ago was 2%;

• Canadians tend to pay down their mortgage faster than in the U.S. where mortgage interest is deductible from taxes, which encourages U.S. homeowners to take equity out of their homes to finance other spending, a difference that is reflected in the fact that in Canada mortgage debt accounts for just over 30% of the value of homes, compared with 55% in the U.S.

In Canada, home prices are down 9.8% from a year earlier, compared with an 18% drop in the U.S. from what were already deeply depressed prices a year ago, the latest real estate industry figures show.

Most analysts here agree that Canada should avoid a U.S. style housing market meltdown.

Michael Gregory, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, said recently that “we won’t even come close” to what is happening in the U.S. thanks to stronger employment and income growth here as well as banking system that “continues to make mortgages” available to Canadian consumers.

But he cautioned that if unemployment rises in Canada, there will be a larger fallout for the domestic housing market.

“Anyway you slice it, if you don’t have a job, you can’t get a mortgage and you can’t buy a house,” Mr. Gregory said.

Nancy MacCallum, AMP

Mortgage Planner

Mortgage Architects

FSCO Agent # M08003391 -Brokerage 10287

150 Isabella St.Suite 110

Ottawa,ON K1S 1P7

tel:613-276-6912

Okay…..so I lie about my weight. (I still remember the first time that I bought bindings for downhill skis & the salesman told me that I could not lie. I was devastated!!!)

I get so upset when I see people reading statistical numbers & taking them at face value without analyzing them. They are not untruths BUT without assessing how the numbers came about and how easily they can be influenced, they might as well be falsehoods.

One of my favourites was the average sale price of condos on mls in the downtown core 2 years ago. Reports in the papers quoted that prices had sky-rocketed an amazing 160% or some comparable ridiculous number. When one pulled the details on what properties had sold in the area the answer was clear. Recently-introduced luxury condos were now being resold and the new price tag for that area was totally skewing the stats.

Today’s Canwest News Services report on the doom and gloom that the papers so love to write about (at least now they are delegated to the less than prime spots in the paper with the bus strike still grabbing the headlines), continues the gleeful quoting of gloomy real estate numbers without any analysis. Today’s paper reports that the average Canadian home price has dropped just less than 10% in the past year.

The questions that pop into my mind are:

• what are the local stats?
• do those numbers reflect the actual drop in value OR do they reflect the fact that the houses that are being sold are not the high-end homes but rather entry-level and 2nd family homes, which would again skew the averages?
• are there new developments in an area (i.e new condo developments) that are selling a lot of properties in a lower price range en mass that will affect the averages?

Without looking at the whole picture do NOT be cast into that group of individuals that fear that the sky is falling. The sky is NOT. At least here in Ottawa at this point in time. 

It is so wonderful to be able to call people and get to say “You have won!!”  The happy recipients for the Juniors tickets are: Bev B. & Greg T. Greg already cheered Canada on to an unheard of win (Yes….he saw the 15-0 game!!) . Now to see if Bev is going to cheer on the right team.

 Congratulations to both of you!

Santa has arrived with tickets to the Junior games!! The winner can choose from the following dates and get a level 2 single seat ticket (for the die-hard hockey fan!) You choose:

Friday, Dec. 26th 2:30pm LAT-RUS  Ottawa Civic Centre

Saturday, Dec 27th 6:30 pm SVK - LAT  Ottawa Civic Centre

Saturday, Dec 27th 7:30 pm  KAZ-GER Scotiabank Place

Sunday, Dec 28th 3:30pm KAZ-CAN Scotiabank Place

Tuesday, Dec. 30th 7:30pm USA-KAZ Scotiabank Place

Wednesday, Dec 31st 2:30pm SWE-RUS Ottawa Civic Centre

Wednesday, Dec 31st 6:30pm  SVK-FIN Ottawa Civic Centre

Friday, Jan 2nd 6:30pm Relegation Ottawa Civic Centre

Saturday Jan 3rd 6:30pm Relegation Ottawa Civic Centre

 Entry deadline is Dec. 29th at 4pm.

 How to enter:

In the comments section below enter your:

•  name
• phone numbers
• best email to reach you at
• and the word “Clients” if you are a current or past client. (in which case your name goes into the draw twice).

***NOTE: Your name & entry will not be visible on the public site****The draws will be December 26th, at 1:00 pm AND Dec 29th 4pm and the winner’s name posted on the blog and notified.MERRY CHRISTMAS!!