Canada’s economy grew by a greater-than-expected 0.3% in May and looks set to turn in its best annualized quarterly performance for more than three years, official data indicated on Friday.
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[The growth] indicates annualized second-quarter growth of 3.4%, significantly higher than the Bank of Canada’s July 15 forecast of 2.5%, and the highest annualized quarterly increase since the 4.3% seen in the first three months of 2023.
The central bank left its benchmark overnight rate unchanged at 2.25% on July 15 and said growth would strengthen in the second half of the year as inflation pressures eased and firms continued to adapt to U.S. tariffs.
“The economy appears to have found ways to navigate the current cloud of uncertainty relating to trade with the United States,” said Royce Mendes, managing director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins.
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And at the same time housing prices are still dropping
Housing prices should be dropping, if we can think of them strictly as shelter and not as an investment.
It would be nice if somebody could buy their first home for the cost of materials.
Just the materials? That’s unlikely - some guy has to manually fasten together every cubic centimeter of wall and floor, and they need to be paid. IIRC, labour actually comes out to more than the materials. For a remodel, labour definitely costs a lot more.
Modular homes can theoretically do better by shifting that labour to a factory nearby, but it’s still not going to be nothing.
Still, cheaper is better, just like for every other good, even if, as in every economic change, there’s some losers.