A bit of good news for the economy

[paulburns]

CMHC released its seasonally adjusted housing starts for August and there was a 12.1 % increase. We are still below 2008 figures but August wasn't as bad as they had predicted so I guess that's good news.

Locally, in Moncton, we had a strong August. Our total sales volume was up 3% over August'08 and 4% over August '07. Overall we haven't caught 2008 volumes yet but we are closing the gap and if 4th quarter is good, we will be very close to the 2008 numbers.

This is good news because the housing industry contributers so much to the economy. The average real estate transcation in Atlantic Canada adds an additoinal $28,000 of value added to the economy over and above the actual sale price of the house. The real estate industry is one of the key drivers to the economy and so when it is doing well, you know the economy is strengthing too.

Now, if we could only get the banks to lend some money to people once in awhile!