The average Canadian house price is set to rise by another 9.5% nationally. This is one of the findings from a report issued by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.

The report also found that Canada's national average house price is forecast to exceed $300,000 for the very first time. Total home real estate sale transactions are also projected to rise sharply and finish 2007 with 522,306 unit sales.

Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate Services says, "The momentum from the year's extraordinary start spilled into the second quarter, compounding typically busy spring market activity and stimulating solid price appreciations in almost all regions of the country. These conditions will certainly be an impetus characterizing Canada's real estate market through to year's end."

The energy boom in Alberta continued to have an impact on the housing market. Sales are still up, but the runaway prices that have characterized Calgary and Edmonton for the past eighteen months have started to ease.

The high Canadian dollar is having little affect on Ontario's manufacturing sector and overall housing market according to a report by RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada.

Demand continues to remain high for real estate across Ontario. Only Windsor did not report an increase in real estate value. In the first five months of 2007, Timmins had the largest increase in demand for residential properties. Sudbury, Haliburton and Collingwood also posted double digit growth.

Executive Vice President and Regional Director of RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada, Michael Polzler said, "While an overall healthy economy has supported home-buying activity, consumer confidence in the future of housing has taken markets to the next level. Given current momentum, we expect demand for housing to continue throughout the traditionally slower summer months and shatter existing records for sales and/or price in many markets by year-end."

Strong demand will drive steady price increases in the Vancouver condo market through the rest of the decade, according to new data released today by Genworth Financial Canada, a subsidiary of Genworth Financial, Inc.

Genworth's Metropolitan Condominium Outlook report forecasts Vancouver condo price growth to remain steady through to the end of the decade.

The data compiled in the Metropolitan Condominium Outlook by Genworth shows that over the next four years, Vancouver condo demand is expected to slow to balance with supply, although a correction is not expected. After seeing price growth averaging 17.1 per cent in 2006, Vancouver condos will rise about 6.2 per cent this year and average 4.4 per cent annual growth through 2010.

Sales of new high-rise condominium suites in the Greater Toronto Area last year came within a hairs-breadth of the all-time high. The proportion of high-rise sales smashed the all time record, according to Bob Finnigan, president of the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association.

The new home sales data, compiled for GTHBA-UDI by RealNet Canada Inc., reveals that there were 17,617 new high-rise condominium suites sold in 2006, a mere 23 units fewer than in 2005, when the previous record was established. However, with 4.4 out of every 10 new home sales in 2006 being high-rise condominiums, the proportion of the total new home market made up of this built-form reached new heights, up from 42 per cent in 2005 and 33 per cent in 2004.

In total, there were 39,790 new home sales in 2006, down 2,202 units or 5 per cent from 2005, but still a very good year relative to the forecasts and historical standards. While high-rise sales held their own, low-rise (single-and semi-detached units and town-homes) unit sales declined by nine per cent year over year resulting in the overall five per cent decrease.

Higher rents and fewer vacant units is making for a nation-wide affordable housing squeeze. It is growing tighter for Canada's four million renter households, which is more than ten million women, men and children. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation annual rental market survey, shows renters, who make up most of the low, moderate and middle-income households in Canada, face a double bind.

First is the Supply Squeeze because vacancy rates (the measure of vacant units in the private rental market) have dropped in 21 of 29 municipalities across Canada, signaling a continuing supply squeeze. Nationally, the rental vacancy rate has dropped to a critically low 2.6%.

Second is the Affordability Squeeze as average rents rose three times faster than inflation, signaling ongoing affordability problems. Toronto continues to lead with the highest rents in Canada. Rents in Calgary jumped by a record-breaking 19.5%.

For a second consecutive year, Ontario vacancy rates edged lower, dropping to 3.4 per cent this year from 3.8 per cent in 2005. Vacancy rates tightened across all bedroom types. Despite the drop, provincial vacancy rates still remain above historical averages.

While vacancy rates dropped across most centers, there were some notable exceptions. St. Catharine's, Oshawa, Thunder Bay and Windsor saw higher vacancy rates. Economic prospects in these centers have been weak for some time given their exposure to manufacturing and tourism sectors and the challenges associated with a high dollar.

More expensive home ownership markets, such as Toronto and Ottawa, experienced the largest declines in vacancy rates. Meanwhile, rising energy and base metal prices helped spur positive spin-offs across a broader range of employment sectors in Sudbury. This encouraged continued in-migration, particularly among the young adult population, which helped pull vacancy rates lower.

Canadians are embracing luxury living more than ever before - and if they are not currently living in a luxury home, many aspire to someday live in the lap of luxury. As a result, the number of unit sales of luxury homes has skyrocketed in Canada's major markets, according to the Carriage Trade Luxury Properties Report released today by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.

The report found that there has been a surge of unit sales in all markets examined, with the greatest increases occurring in Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax, which all reported sales increases of more than 125 per cent, year-over-year, in the first three quarters of 2006.

If the aspirations of Canadians play a factor, sales of luxury homes will not diminish anytime soon. The report, which includes a market analysis of trends and activity in major markets across Canada, combined with a national omnibus poll (conducted by Maritz Research Canada), found that over one-third (37%) of Canadians aged eighteen and older, currently live in a luxury home, plan to buy a luxury home soon, or aspire to one day live in a luxury home.

The Canadian Real Estate Association is calling on the federal government to make tax changes that would help boost Canada's productivity, expand rental housing, and encourage urban regeneration.

CREA Chief Executive Officer Pierre Beauchamp said the Association is meeting with Members of Parliament and government officials to outline a proposal to allow the deferral of capital gains tax and capital cost allowance recovery when an investment property is sold and the proceeds of the sale are invested in another investment property within one year.

"We are asking the federal government to extend a tax advantage to small investors that is already available to large companies," said Beauchamp. "Our proposal to encourage reinvestment in real property will make Canada's income tax law more consistent, neutral, and fair."

Are you interested in buying into the number one-ranked ski resort in North America? It is a good time to take another look. After an extended period of growth, Whistler has settled into a more balanced, sustainable market for real estate. It's an exciting future for both second home owners and permanent residents who want to be part of a unique mountain experience.

Pat Kelly, the president of Whistler Real Estate Company - the only realty firm with three decades of experience along the Sea-to-Sky corridor -says there are plenty of buying opportunities which informed investors are re-discovering. "The market is positive, and prices are stable - whether it is a condo in the $300 to $400 thousand range, a chalet-style home in the $1 million-plus range," says Kelly, "price levels have stabilized, there is good value, and lots of choices."

British Columbia's housing sector will exhibit ongoing strength according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Six hundred housing industry professionals including, lenders, appraisers, planners, housing suppliers, builders, developers and government officials attended CMHC's sold-out Housing Market Outlook Conference today in Vancouver.

"The low inflation and interest rate environment, gains in employment and incomes, and continued above average economic growth bode well for the province's housing sector," stated Carol Frketich, CMHC BC Regional Economist during her presentation on the economic and interest rate outlook.

The housing market outlook for 2007 calls for continued high levels of resale activity and new home construction in British Columbia, although below this year's projected totals. While some moderation is anticipated in the level of existing home sales, the average resale price will continue to rise but at a slower pace than in 2006.