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Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Affordability in Canada: green with red spotsAfter year of booming real estate market in Canada and months after the interest rates began rising, the mortgage affordability started up eroding. It's still kept within the green area within 32-33% of pre-tax mortgage expenditures. Some areas like British Columbia and its largest city Vancouver although show signs of overheating. The market there is following the opposite from the national direction. The best case as far as the oil prices are at their record levels is Alberta. Other good affordability due not to the higher incomes but to the small demand is the Atlantic region as a whole. The Royal Bank of Canada published its regular affordability index, showing gradual erosion of the demand side on the real estate market in Canada. After years of strong economy and low interest rates, almost any major city reported gains in prices, new developments and brighter prospects. Months after the Central bank began to increase the rates the markets in have began to differentiate among those that still keep momentum and those that already passed their zenith within this business cycle. Alberta and British Columbia occupy the two opposing places within the provinces list of affordable housing. Alberta, seen in Canada as the province closest to the State of Texas in just everything except the climate (e.g. economic structure, political culture) so far profits from the record oil and some other commodity prices on the world markets. Having under the Canadian constitution the right to tax the local oil production Alberta is the only province without internal debt (it was erased this year). These together with other factors make Alberta one of favorite places for intra-provincial migration, thus constantly adding to the demand side on the real estate market. The high affordability and good prospects for the oil business in mid-term make Alberta a very good place for developers and homebuyers alike. British Columbia is on the other pole with the smallest affordability, calculated as the pre-tax household expenditures servicing the mortgage loans. The province looks like a lonely red spot on the national map where the green and yellow colors dominate. The negative reaction of the creditors and the market itself is more than understandable; getting loans have become tougher, and the prices for detached bungalows have fallen by 10% form their top levels. In the middle between these extremes are the central provinces Quebec and Ontario, where with exception of Toronto, the affordability is still within the green zone. With no major surprises ahead (e.g. sudden huge increase of the interest rates, huge drop or rise of the oil prices from their current levels) the Canadian market with exception of British Columbia will continue its upward path although at more moderate pace.
Affordability index: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Canada.
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