http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/11/09/oecd-canada-growth.html

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts Canada will lead the Group of Seven industrialized economies in growth over the next half century.

In a report released Friday, the OECD says it expects Canada's real gross domestic product will average 2.2 per cent growth annually over the next 50 years.

Canada, it predicts, will be near the top on a per capita basis – possibly a truer measure of success — with only Japan sneaking ahead.

Of the other G7 nations, only the United States and the United Kingdom with 2.1 per cent average advances come close.

That doesn't mean Canada will beat all industrialized nations, however. Australia, New Zealand, Israel and Norway — whose economies are too small for admittance to the G7 club — are projected to experience even stronger average growth rates.

In part, Canada's superior growth rates are based on expectations that its labour force will continue to grow, although more slowly in the age of retiring baby boomers. Some countries, like Japan and Germany, are likely to experience outright contraction, which is why they do well on the per capita measure.

"For Canada, it's a fairly young population, fairly well-educated workforce and you have all these natural resources that give you higher growth than other countries," said Matthias Rumpf, a spokesman with the organization.

India expected to eclipse Japan in a year or two

The OECD report also predicts the balance of global economic power will shift dramatically, with China overtaking the U.S. as the world’s biggest economy as early as 2016.

The organization says China is expected to surpass the eurozone in a year or so.

It forecasts that India’s GDP will surpass that of Japan in the next year or two, the euro area in about 20 years and the U.S. “over the long term.”

The report came a day after Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrapped up a six-day trade mission in India and moved on to Manila.

Together, it says, the two emerging Asian economies will overtake the collective economy of the G7 nations in size by around 2025 and Indonesia and Brazil will outpace Japan and the eurozone.

"The economic crisis we have been living with for the past five years will eventually be overcome, but the world our children and grandchildren inherit may be starkly different from ours," said OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría.

'Education and productivity will be the main drivers of future growth.'—OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría

"As the largest and fastest-growing emerging countries fully assume a more prominent place in the global economy, we will face new challenges to ensure a prosperous and sustainable world for all."

"Education and productivity will be the main drivers of future growth, and should be policy priorities worldwide,” Gurria said.

But in terms of per capita standard of living, the OECD says China and India will still be well below that of the Western world. The organization represents most of the world's wealthiest countries.

The OECD cautions that the projections should be taken with a grain of salt, given the extended timeline horizon, but Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter says in some ways long-term forecasts are more reliable. Time tends to smooth out short-term shocks, he explains.

Porter said nothing in the OECD overviews strikes him as being unrealistic.

"I don't have a huge quarrel with the conclusion, I think we can or will likely lead the G7, but it'll be a horse race with the U.S. in particular," he said.

"I'm not sure I would be as positive on a per capita basis. Canada hasn't seen that kind of per capita gain in the past 30 years and I'm not sure we can really ramp it up in the next 30 to 50 years," he added.

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The University of Victoria remains one of Canada's top universities in the latest Maclean's magazine rankings.

UVic trails only Simon Fraser University among 16 comprehensive universities that have significant research activity and a range of undergraduate and graduate programs. The two schools finished in the same position last year.

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/UVic+again+reaches+tier+Maclean+rankings/7487931/story.html#ixzz2BNmiySQA

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The numbers continue to paint an interesting picture of Victoria’s real estate market.  While the natural tendency for most sellers and buyers is to hold off in this market, the opposite is actually the correct course of action.  If you are considering selling your home, you need to hear that that there are a lot of frustrated buyers out there who really want to make a purchase.  If you think that this sounds like the opposite of what you have heard, read on!

Let’s tackle the single family detached home market first.  Yes, the volume of sales is down significantly.  We would love to see higher sales volume, but I don’t believe that is in the cards for a while.  So, where are the opportunities in a slow market?  To put it simply, there are two types of home sellers, whether the market is hot or not.  Those that will find a buyer, and those that will never, ever sell their home.  Those that have no chance of selling are always overly optimistic in their pricing, do not listen to expert advice, and don’t prepare their home for sale.  In a slow market like we are experiencing, there are always more of these sellers. 

That leaves us with a small group of sellers who price their homes at market value, make them look great, and team up with a Realtor committed to proper marketing that makes their home stand out from the crowd.  These homes are in such short supply that they are selling quite quickly.  Don’t take my word for it, look at the numbers.  For the last seven weeks, the prices of the homes that have sold has risen 2.2% and the number of days that it has taken for those homes to sell has dropped by 7%.  Those probably aren’t the numbers you expected to see, are they?  But, they are the actual, current numbers from the Victoria Real Estate Board for greater Victoria.  Increasing prices and dropping days on market is our most clear indicator that buyers are having trouble finding homes to buy!  Our own experience backs this up, with several of our listings in recently attracting multiple offers.

The condo market is much the same as well!  Like houses, the volume of sales is very low.  Prices are also relatively stable, and the days on market is dropping.  Like with houses, there is a shortage of realistically priced condos on the market.

These market facts need to be a wake up call for buyers, sellers, and other Realtors.  The low volume of sales that we are dealing with is likely to be around for a while so we all need to learn to live with that, and adjust our expectations and strategies.  But, that does not necessarily mean that prices are going to fall.  In fact, for those with open ears that listen to the facts and not just to sensationalized news reports, the news is far from bad. 

If you want to learn more about the current market, and whether it is a good time for you to sell, please give us a call!

Here are the raw stats from this morning:

Over the last 30 days, 178 single family houses were sold, down by 5 houses from last week.  The median price is down $3,500 to $526,500. The average house was on the market for 43 days.

In the last 30 days, 86 condos were sold, down by 9 condos from last week.  The median price is down $3,250 to $256,750. The average condo was on the market for 50 days.

There are now 2,169 houses for sale, down by 143 from last week.  Condo inventory has fallen by 58 to 1016 suites.

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