Real estate helped Canadians became wealthier in 2014, The Globe and Mail reported. Last year, real estate still comprised the biggest part of Canadian's wealth at an average of $354,044 per household which accounts for 49 percent of all their assets, according to Environics Analytics' WealthScapes analysis.
Saving money and easing up on the rate of their borrowing also contributed and allowed more households to become better equipped to hurdle the challenges set by falling prices of oil and recent economic downturns. Debts incurred by families increased by an average of 2.9 percent in the previous year while their assets ballooned to 5.5 percent. It made the Canadian average household net wealth climb to $589,511.
Environics Analytics senior research associate Peter Miron said that real estate was "not too bubbly" last year as values rose by 5 percent on average. Hot housing markets helped assets in areas such as British Columbia, Ontario and Alberta increase way higher than the national average, according to the report.
Investments were also considered as significant factors of wealth increase which climbed by 7.8 percent for each household. It coincided with skyrocketing of stock markets last year. Canadians also found their savings deposits increase by 1.4 percent while a 7.2 percent growth rate was observed for workplace pension plans. Miron also said: "Canadian balance sheets are in very good shape - even better than prior to the financial crisis."
In a separate report by CBC News, China's recent stock market meltdown dubbed "Black Monday," the biggest one-day dive since 2007, will not have a major impact on the hot Canadian market particularly in Vancouver. According to Chinese state media, Shanghai's main index plummeted by 8.8 percent by closing time. But experts figure that even with the stock markets weakening, Vancouver real estate will still be a good place to invest on. TD Bank former vice president Tung Chan says that historically speaking, China's stock markets have little effect in Asian investment on Canadian real estate.
