What will 2004 hold for Canadians?

"Recent job growth and low interest rates will keep housing activity strong, but we cannot guarantee that annual sales will set another record this year," said Pierre Beauchamp, CREA's Chief Executive Officer. "Higher prices, a further increase in new listings and more balanced market conditions may result in some buyers taking longer to make a purchase decision and cause activity to edge back from this year's record."

Resale housing activity is expected to surpass 2002 levels even with a small decline in 2004. The national average MLS® is forecast to increase between three and five percent.

According to the 23rd Annual Watson Wyatt Survey of Economic Expectations, 55 leading Canadian economists believe Canada's economy will continue its recovery and maintain "moderate growth and stability" in 2004 and beyond. Watson Wyatt is a global consulting firm specializing in human capital and financial management with offices in five Canadian cities.

"The survey results reaffirm that the Canadian economy is on course for prosperity, as experts anticipate an improvement in economic indicators almost all across the board," said John Gilfoyle, National Practice Director, Investment Consulting at Watson Wyatt. "Unlike last year when the optimistic stance was somewhat offset by expectations of declining productivity and living standards, the picture this year is extremely positive."

Key survey findings include:

Economists are not quite as optimistic for housing starts which are projected to reach 200,000 for 2004, down from an actual number of 218,000 in 2003. Predictions for 2005-2008 call for a decline to 185,000 starts per year with a drop to 175,000 for 2009-2018.

Let's hope the "rosy outlook" for the economy extends to real estate in all corners of Canada.