Despite the U.S. housing recession, where home sales are to hit bottom in early 2008 and the current housing crisis is expected to run through early 2009, Canada's real estate market continued to post significant price gains in the fourth quarter of 2007 and showed little sign of the usual winter slowdown. Toronto Real Estate Board Market Watch reported 2007 was Best Year Ever, with 4,646 sales in December and year-end sales of 93,193. This is 12 per cent higher than year-end sales in 2006 and 11 per cent higher than 2005, the Toronto market's previous best-ever annual performance!

Here is a summary of recent Royal LePage Real Estate Reports and interviews our president Phil Soper did with the Canadian media to discuss the Canadian Real Estate market and the outlook for 2008.

2007 was a record-breaker for the Canadian Real Estate market. The big stories were price out west and volume in central and eastern Canada. We knew prices would continue to appreciate in the west but the pace of appreciation particularly in the first part of the year really defied all expectations; and in Ontario and Quebec we saw the number of homes trading hands really spike up in the second half of the year; very, very strong year for real estate. Toronto area displayed high levels of home buying activity in the fourth quarter, despite the city’s rising house prices, partly related to the introduction of a new Toronto Land Transfer Tax.

2008 Market Survey Forecast

Royal LePage podcasts feature some of the most knowledgeable experts to provide valuable information on the residential property market. In this segment we look at women and the role they are playing in Canadian Real Estate. Now an interesting study commissioned by Royal LePage finds that contrary to popular belief women actually favor mortgage over marriage.

Linda Leatherdale, money editor of The Toronto Sun and host of Money Line on Rogers Television, has Lisa da Rocha, vice president of marketing communications at Royal LePage to shed some light on this very interesting topic.

Study showed that 30% of single never-before-married women own their home today and another 31% are looking at purchasing within the next 3 years. So they are absolutely out there looking to purchase a home. They're financially independent and looking at home ownership as a good investment for the long term. Tune in to hear more...

The 2007 Royal LePage Female Home Buyers Study - Report Summary for Toronto Area

Linda Leatherdale, money editor of The Toronto Sun and host of Money Line on Rogers Television, and Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage Real Estate Services, discuss the Canadian Real Estate market and the outlook of where the market is headed. Included in this segment is an overview of The 2007 Carriage Trade Luxury Properties Report, which examines trends and activity in eight major cities across Canada.

Transcript