I had the privilage of attending a seminar today by the Canadian Mortgage & Housing Corporation (CMHC) today. Today’s topic was on Kingston’s economy, the housing sector and projections for 2011. I attended a seminar put on by CMHC last year where I heard the same economist speak (Abdul was his name I believe), while at times I do find his accent hard to follow, from what I remember of his seminar last year his assessment of the market was very through, easy to follow and at the end of the year he was quite accurate in his predictions. So what did he have to say for 2011? Kingston is doing very well as a city in terms of its recovery from Canada’s worst recession since the “dirty 30’s” and things are looking good for 2011. Our city has seen a solid growth in several different sectors of employment especially in administration and education. Negative growth numbers were noted in the last 6 months of last year in the retail sector and in construction. Both of these are not surprising, especially construction, given the seasonal change. We also have the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario when compared to cities like Ottawa, Toronto, Windsor, Cambridge and several other major centres.

So what about the real estate sector? Will prices rise? What about rates? Will they rise? How far? His answer to the real estate question was that real estate in Kingston looks “realatively heathly.” We have a good balance of supply (those wanted to sell) and demand (those looking to buy). Prices will rise but not by very much at all. As for mortgage rates. They will also rise, again not by very much. Overall Kingston’s housing market is doing well and is right about where it should be.