Canadian Housing Bubble: Canadians come face to face with the paradox of golden real estate handcuffs and a younger less affluent generation.

I really enjoy Canada.  A beautiful country with great cities and fantastic food.  Leave it to our neighbors to the north to show us how it is done for a real housing mania.  For the first time in history we have experienced coordinated global housing bubbles courtesy of central banks following very similar policies.  The addiction to debt isn’t only a U.S. born condition.  While the recent U.S. market is dominated by low supply and massive investor buying, Canada continues to see rising home prices even right through the global Great Recession.  The Canadians interestingly enough also face similar dilemmas between older and younger generations.  Many young professionals are fully priced out of the real estate market even when they are working at relatively good careers.  Many battle it out in the condo markets were even in this market prices are inflated.  Canada has an incredibly heavy reliance on real estate, more so than the United States and their household debt ratios make the U.S. look like a frugal uncle.  One fascinating story highlights a similar story to what many baby boomers here in the U.S. are facing with their offspring.  They face the reality that they are house rich but cash poor.  (more)

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