Watch this space for news affecting the real estate market.
23 May 2012 - Canadian retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in March, offsetting a decline in February. Sales were also 0.4 per cent higher in volume terms. Sales growth was fairly broad based with 7 of 11 retail subsectors reporting gains. With today's release, we estimate that the Canadian economy grew 2.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.
In BC, retail sales suffered a setback following two relatively strong months to start the year. Retail sales in the province fell 0.2 per cent from February but were 4 per cent higher compared with March 2011. Year to date, BC retail sales are over 5 per cent higher than the first quarter of 2011, aided by stronger full-time employment growth and steadily improving economic growth
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16 May 2012 - Canadian manufacturing sales increased 1.9 per cent in March, the largest advanced since September 2011. The gain was largely driven by higher sales of petroleum and coal products, though higher sales were reported in 13 of the 21 manufacturing sectors surveyed.
BC manufacturing sales rose 0.4 per cent on a month-over-month basis in March but were 0.4 per cent lower than in March 2011. BC manufacturing sales were lead higher by a rebound in BC’s non-durables goods sector where sales rose 2.6 per cent due to strength in the petroleum and coal sector as well as higher sales in the paper and food manufacturing industries.
South of the border, US housing starts (a key bellwether for BC’s forest product industry) rose 2.6 per cent to 717,000 units in April, and 29 per cent over April 2011.
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