Early signs that Vancouver housing market correction may be over + MORE Apr 18th

Royal LePage says early evidence suggests that the recent correction in Vancouver’s housing market may be short-lived.
The realtor released a report Tuesday saying Canada’s two largest real estate markets continued their divergence in the first quarter of the year.
The aggregate price of a home in the Greater Toronto Area rose by an “unprecedented” 20 per cent across all housing types to $759,241 in the first three months of 2017.
In the Greater Vancouver area, the price of a home rose 12.3 per cent year-over-year to $1,179,482.
Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper says the housing correction in Vancouver began seven months ago, around the time that the B.C. government introduced a 15 per cent tax on foreign nationals buying real estate in the city.
Sales volumes then plunged and prices slowed their torrid upwards trajectory.
But just in the past month, sales in the Vancouver area have leapt forward by close to 50 per cent on a month-over-month basis, says Soper _ better than the seasonal average…

Parkland Fuel Corp. said it is buying Chevron Corp.’s Canadian oil refining and marketing business for $1.46-billion, marking yet another big acquisition of foreign-owned energy assets by a domestic player.

Home sales across the country hit a record high last month, propped up by transactions in the fiercely hot market of Toronto, further fuelling concerns about the city’s real estate sector.
The Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday home sales over its Multiple Listings Service system increased by 1.1 per cent in March to top the previous monthly record set in April 2016. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales totalled 46,353, up from 45,856 in February.
Bank of Montreal chief economist Doug Porter said where you stand on the issue of Canada’s housing market depends on where you live.
“Almost the entire province of Ontario’s housing market is now on fire, while most of the rest of the country wonders what all the fuss is about,” Porter wrote in a research note.
Policy-makers, think tanks and the Bank of Canada have issued repeated warnings that while concerns of an overheated housing market may be confined to the Toronto area, a correction could have repercussions for the national economy given the sheer scale of the city’s real estate industry…

Somayaji Ayalasomayajula, 22, Mechanical Engineer, Toronto
I’ve been interested in growing my money since I was 12. At a pretty young age my dad gave me some money and helped me buy a GIC (guaranteed income certificate) with it. I think the aim was to help me see how money grows through interest and compounding. After that, my dad and I got a bank statement every three months that showed I made about $20 in interest on that GIC. I thought that was just the greatest thing.
I’ve always loved the Internet and computers and am a big self-learner. At age 18, I opened a self-directed account with one of the Big Five banks and bought a mutual fund. I really didn’t like the interface that the site offered for trading stocks, which is what I eventually wanted to do, so I started reading up on different self-directed accounts with other financial institutions. I finally found an interface I liked through Questrade. The more up-to-date interface meant I could generally trade fairly quickly, which was what I wanted at the time…

United Airlines executives said Tuesday that it’s too soon to know if last week’s dragging of a man off a plane is hurting ticket sales. The chief executive said no one will be fired over the incident.
CEO Oscar Munoz and other executives apologized again on Tuesday before discussing the airline’s latest financial results with analysts and reporters.
Munoz said he takes full responsibility “for making this right” after the April 9 incident aboard a United Express plane at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. He said the airline will have more to say later this month after it finishes a review of its policies on overbooked flights.
Munoz started the call with an apology to David Dao, the 69-year-old Kentucky physician who was dragged off the plane by Chicago airport officers who had been summoned by United, and to all other customers.
“You can and should expect more from us, and as CEO I take full responsibility for making this right,” Munoz said…