Real estate prices are being forecast to decline in 2009 by the research house Global Property Guide. The latest international property reports indicates that house prices in the US are likely to fall further until end-2010 or mid-2011. Coastal states with huge housing overhang such as Florida and California are likely to experience the most prolonged house price slump.
The housing market’s recovery will depend a lot on the effectiveness of the government of the incoming president Barack Obama in dealing with the crisis.
Canada‘s economy is in better shape than that of the US, but is still expected to fall into recession from Q4 2008 to Q1 2009, due to financial market turmoil, declining exports and weaker commodity prices. Nominal house prices are expected to start falling in Q4 2008, and to continue falling until 2010.
The previously hot markets of Western Canada, including Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, will experience the largest drop in sales and house prices in 2009.
