Why is it that it takes an episode of economical crisis for the trends to change to a more sustainable path?It seems that it takes times of economical crisis to force the changes that the experts say we need to make to move towards a more sustainable existence. Is it because people equate this more sustainable world to one of strife and stagnation?Housing starts lowest since 1984, down 41%
Falling to their lowest levels since 1984, housing starts across the Windsor area dropped by 41 per cent in 2007 compared to the previous year, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Single-detached starts fell by 40 per cent and multiple home starts dropped by 44 per cent. Overall, there were 614 starts in 2007, compared to 1,045 a year earlier.
"A combination of adequate choice in the resale market, job uncertainty and weaker consumer confidence has resulted in less demand for new homes," said Margot Stevenson, a market analyst for CMHC.
In December, there were 26 single unit starts, unchanged from a year ago. Multiple starts, which consisted of four semi-detached units and 12 apartment rental units, were 56 per cent higher in December than a year ago.
In a year-to-date comparison, starts fell by 55 per cent in Windsor, 43 per cent in Lakeshore and 41 per cent in Amherstburg.
In LaSalle, they increased by 44 per cent over the same period and by a whopping 157 per cent in Tecumseh.Across Ontario, starts fell by seven per cent in 2007 compared to 2006.
6 comments:
Did you see the numbers of housing starts in Tecumseh and LaSalle?
The bedroom communities are alive and well.
Eddie is doing a great job in making sure that those with disposable incomes leave this city for the suburbs. Is he going to run for mayor in LaSalle or Tecumseh?
The only reason we are seeing a net growth in population is that we are the 4th largest destination for immigrants and most of the ones who come here have little job skills. The others with skills are moving to T.O., Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary.
What a disgrace!
It's almost like Eddie studied under Conrad Black. In Eddie's two terms he'll have devalued the whole city to nuthin more than a dustball, then sell it off cheap. Maybe that's the higher purpose- to return one day the king of bigbox and stripmalls and dustballs.
Well, it's performance review season (for all those that still have jobs) Unfortunately, our Mayor Eddie only gets his once every 4 years. Can the SDW community here help him out a little and list some things done good along with some bad. There must be some good right? I can't think of anything just now though.
Maybe this story from today's Windsor Star will make people sit up and take notice. What am I doing that could be considered proactive in light of all this news? Just look at my nickname...
Gas to hit $1.50: CIBC
Report predicts price will be the 'norm' in near future
Friday, January 11, 2008
OTTAWA - Gasoline may be expensive now but it's only going to get more costly, according to a CIBC World Markets report released Thursday, which says $1.50-a-litre gasoline will be the norm in the "near future."
One reason for rising fuel costs, CIBC said, is increasing demand from less developed countries whose economies are undergoing exceptional growth.
"Soaring rates of car ownership in countries like Russia and China have boosted fuel demand in both countries," Jeff Rubin, chief economist with CIBC World Markets, said in the report.
Other reasons for rising fuel costs include depletion of existing petroleum sources, and delays and cost overruns associated with new energy projects slated to come on line, CIBC said.
"You have to run faster to stand still," Rubin said in the report. "Depletion from existing fields has accelerated to over four per cent, a rate that currently cuts nearly four million barrels per day out of each year's production."
A survey by Calgary-based MJ Ervin & Associates Inc. this week indicated the average price of gasoline in Canada is just less than $1.08 a litre.
In an interview, Rubin said he expects gasoline to average $1.50 a litre in 2012, around the same time he expects crude oil be costing about US$150 a barrel.
Between now and then, he said finding gasoline for less than $1 a litre will be a rarity. If a price war, for instance, gives consumers such a break, it will not last long, Rubin said.
The CIBC report says current estimates for oil production by 2012 by the U.S. Department of Energy and the International Energy Agency are about eight-million-barrels-a-day too optimistic.
Rubin said such expectations do not fully account for the rate of depletion and delays of getting new projects producing, including those in the Canadian oilsands.
CIBC said it looked at 200 oil projects slated to start production within the next five years and found "scheduled production timelines are far too optimistic with project delays the norm, not the exception, among the group."
The CIBC report said rising costs will result in a four-million-barrel a day decrease in demand for oil in the richer countries that make up the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development by 2012. Half of that demand downturn is predicted to come from the U.S., which would make for a 10 per cent decrease in that country.
Canada's demand should decrease at a similar rate, Rubin told CanWest News Service.
He added that less demand in OECD countries will not be enough to drive down prices, as demand will grow in oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, where there are heavy subsidies shielding consumers from true market prices for oil.
"Most of the new supply gains will never see the light of world-export markets because they'll be consumed in the very countries that produce them," Rubin said.
© The Windsor Star 2008
Rhetorical question. People, for the most part, are creatures of habit. They will only change when an event forces them to.
Also, money talks. If the price of gasoline is too much, then people have a financial incentive to change their habits. Economics 101.
Not everyone is staying put. Plenty of people are leaving. We couldn't have "adequate choice in the resale market" if people were not leaving.
The people moving into existing neighbourhoods are renters, new to the area (yes there is still some in-migration) or are downsizing.
As to renovating homes, it makes sense that people will wait till the construction market cools down to renovate - it's easier to find contractors to do the work sooner and usually at a reasonable price.
P.S. "gas prices" should read "oil prices" at the beginning of your second paragraph.
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