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While new condo sales have followed the general path of many economic variables over the past decade with various degrees of correlation, their close relationship to the stock market is attention worthy.

Long gone are the days when dog lovers would have a tough time buying a condo in Metro Vancouver.

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 189,837 units in August compared to 189,596 in July.  The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

Brokers are pleased to hear that more transparency will finally be required of their major bank competitors.

“Transparency is very important to the consumers as they can make an informed decision of whom they would like to conduct business with,” Angela Wong-Liao of Invis the Money Lady said on MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “Our broker channel has been bombarded with so many disclosure forms since January 2009 and I believe that the lenders -- whether it is a bank, credit union, trust company, investment firms -- should have similar disclosures when they are dealing directly with consumers as it is their fiduciary duties to do so.”

Home buyers have raised prices for single-family detached houses to record highs in Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley.

With the home price index hitting $984,300 last month for detached properties sold in Greater Vancouver, this is up 6.6 per cent from August 2013. In the Fraser Valley, which includes the Vancouver suburb of Surrey, the detached price index climbed 3.4 per cent to $569,800 over the past year.

According to a study released today in the Economic Analysis Research Paper Series, Canadian household net worth per capital reached 77 percent of the United States’ level in 2012.

The report compares the household net worth per capita in Canada and the U.S over this time period by using data from the Canadian national balance sheet accounts, and the Flow of Funds published by the United States Federal Reserve.

A recent survey by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) discovered that nearly one in five condominium owners in Vancouver and Toronto have purchased additional investment units.

Surveying 42,426 households in both cities, the results revealed that of those who own at least one condo, 17.1 percent owned at least two units. The common reasoning behind this is that while one unit used as a personal residence, the other(s) are considered long-term investments; 50 percent being rented out, and one third occupied by the owner’s family.