Financial Update for April 16, 2009

Late day gains in financial stocks help take stock markets higher

• TSX +14.49 with a late day burst of strength from the financial sector
• DOW +109.44
• Dollar +.74c to 83.11USD
• Oil -$.16 to $49.25US per barrel. amid an indication that falling demand is lifting U.S. crude stocks far more than expected.
• Gold +$1.50 to $893.50USD per ounce
• Canadian 5 yr bond yields -.01bps to 1.84
• http://www.financialpost.com/markets/market_data/money-yields-can_us.html

Realtors say March home sales data contains promising signs By The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The number of existing homes sold last month was down from a year ago, but continued an upward trend that began in February, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Wednesday.

The association, which represents real-estate brokerage firms, also reported that the national average price for homes fell again in March compared with the same month last year.
]
"Housing markets are starting to show signs of buyer interest because of lower prices and interest rates," CREA president Dale Ripplinger said in a statement.

Sales of existing homes listed with the industry's MLS service totalled 35,225 units across Canada in March. That's 13.5 per cent below actual sales in March 2008, but CREA said it's the smallest year-over-year decline in six months.

The association also noted that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, March sales were seven per cent higher than in February, which was 10.3 per cent above January.

The association said the number of transactions in March was 18 per cent higher than in January, when activity was the lowest in a decade.

The average house price in Canada fell to just under $289,000 - down 7.7 per cent from March 2008 - also the smallest year-to-year decline in six months.

Robert Kavcic, of BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a separate analysis saying that "the improvement in recent months is an encouraging sign that the Canadian housing market has crossed the halfway point for this downturn."

He noted that the number properties put up for sale fell in March, but the ratio of listings-to-sales remained slightly elevated at 2.2.

"Despite two months of improved sales activity, buyers are still in control of the Canadian real estate market," Kavcic wrote.

"Further price declines and low mortgage rates will ultimately help trigger a recovery, but a reversal in the wave of job losses is one major pre-requisite still outstanding."