Garth heads off the deep end

You see Garth knows more then everyone else. Everyone else. Every. One. Else. And in his usual self, is very dismissive and insulting....sweater talk indeed. Whatever drives hits buddy.

The housing mess: If you happen to live in Edmonton, you might have noticed your house is worth $60,000 less than last year. Ditto for Calgary. The condo market is staggering, homes are sitting on the market for 100 or 200 days, and prices are falling half a per cent more every 30 days.

This is also sneaking into Vancouver and Toronto, and even infecting Saskatoon and The Peg. In fact, the US real estate contagion we were told could never come here, has. But don’t try to convince some folks in Alberta about it. They’d rather listen to Sweaterman tell them everything’s okay.

So, I did battle for a while today on CBC Radio in that province, where a bunch of callers just can’t handle the thought that the Harper gang – with their bloated government spending, high dollar policy, income trusticide, 0/40 mortgage loans and love of income taxes – have paved the way for a multi-year equity crunch here. Truth is, Alberta’s at risk. So’s Ontario.

So you're saying the bubble is bursting in some of the massively overheated zones? That has been called for for months, localized bursts are not the same as the massive widespread meltdown as is happening in the States.

What does CHMC say about housing prices in Ontario for example? The average MLS price in Ontario will rise by 2.8 per cent and 2.3 per cent in 2008 and 2009 respectively, as the rate of price growth follows the same cyclical trend as sales.
That is in Ontario.

Also, you are paying less income tax now then when the Liberals were in power. 0/40 mortgages are now out again, their days are numbered. They will be disallowed on 15 October. These mortgages were only allowed for 2 years, our charted banks were not super aggressive.

Nearly every expert on the economy and housing market says we are not in the same position as the US.

The Bank of Canada has said repeatedly our banking and financial systems are much better capitalized then our American counter parts. Can we be affected by the US crisis? Yes, 80% of our economy is tied to the US, but our overall economy is still strong despite problems in manufacturing.

And Garth, the strong dollar is hard for manufactures, but good for consumers, it helps to shield us from inflation on the price of imports and gas. It's a double edged sword.

You are being unduly alarmist, but really, that shouldn't surprise us.