Scotiabank - "It is time for Canadians to reset their housing market expectations. We expect 2010 will mark a transition year as the boom of the 'aughts' gives way to a sustained period of more subdued housing activity over the coming decade."

Thanks to Don for forwarding us an e-mail from Scotiabank 23 Mar 2010 discussing the year ahead for the Canadian RE market. Here follow excerpts. It is possible that this is the closest a responsible bank-economist will get to actually saying “look out below”. -vreaa

“Adrienne Warren [Scotiabank Senior Economist and real estate specialist] provided an outlook for the Canadian residential real estate market in 2010, and discussed the key economic, industry and demographic trends that will shape the decade ahead. Ms. Warren observed, “The performance of Canada’s housing market over the past decade has been exceptional by virtually any measure. Real home prices increased an average of 5.2 per cent annually from 2000 through 2009, representing the strongest decade of real price appreciation in at least 50 years. Housing starts averaged 201,000 units annually, the highest level of new home construction since the 1970s. “It is time for Canadians to reset their housing market expectations. We expect 2010 will mark a transition year as the boom of the ‘aughts’ gives way to a sustained period of more subdued housing activity over the coming decade,” continued Ms. Warren.