Peterborough Ranked 55th Best Places to LIve in Canada. 2012

Money Sense Magazine has release their report on Canada’s Best Places to live in 2012.  The report ranks 190 towns and cities in Canada using categories to compare the pros and cons of urban communities in Canada.

Peterborough ranked as the 55^th for 2012 as the best place to live in Canada. Comparing our rankings in 2011 where Peterborough was ranked 38^th and in 2010, Peterborough was ranked #17. 

I will discuss the criteria for 2012 below and the report does changed some if its 22 separate categories all having different weights given for the answer.  This does make it interesting and at the same time, it becomes a conversation piece as to why communities move up and down on the scale.

Categories and Points

WALK/BIKE TO WORK: Peterborough scored 10.15% ranked 35

7 points – This represents the percentage of people who walked or took their bike to work. Source: 2006 Statistics Canada reports.

WEATHER: Peterborough scored with 110 days of precipitation with 840.3 Mm/year and ranked 15th

 18 points – (6 for each : amount of precipitation, number of wet days, days below 0°C). Ideal volume of precipitation is considered to be 700 mm per year. Source: Environment Canada

AIR QUALITY: Ozone scored in at 27^th, ranked 6th

2 points – One point for parts per million of ozone and one point for levels of suspended fine particulate matter, both of which are major components of smog. Source: Monitoring stations in or nearest to each city as reported by the National Air Pollution Surveillance Network.

POPULATION GROWTH: Peterborough +2.1%, ranked 110

 10 points – Results are based on the average Canadian population growth rate from 2006-2011 of 5.9% plus 2%. Higher growth rates create problems as cities struggle to provide services to growing populations. Lower growth rates means less opportunities. Cities with negative growth received 0 points. Source: 2011 Statistics Canada figures

UNEMPLOYMENT: Peterborough scored 7.3%, ranked 100th

10 points – 2011 data from Statistics Canada when provided and 2012 estimates derived from Canadian Demographics.

HOUSING:Time to buy in Peterborough was 3.40 years, ranked 122

 15 points – (7.5 for average house prices and 7.5 for time to buy a house) House price averages from reports and listings by MLS, Canadian Real Estate Association, and the Real Estate Boards of Toronto, Fraser Valley, Vancouver, Edmonton and Quebec. Time to buy was derived from average price divided by average 2012 estimated household income sourced from Canadian Demographics.

HOUSEHOLD INCOME:Peterborough Average House Price was $257,400, ranked 97^th.

 4 points – Based on 2012 estimates. Source: Canadian Demographics.

DISCRETIONARY INCOME: Peterborough scored 27.75%, ranked 64

4 points – Discretionary household income as a percentage of total household income derived from 2012 estimates. Using a percentage figure adjusts for higher cost of living and tax factors. Source: Canadian Demographics.

NEW CARS: Peterborough scored 13.47, ranked 97

 4 points – 2009-2011 model year vehicles as a percent of total vehicles as per Canadian Demographics.

INCOME TAXES: Peterborough ranked 4^th,

2 points – Cities ranked (lower is better) according to the rate of combined federal and provincial (or territorial) income tax paid on a single person income of $50,000. Source: www.taxtips.ca.

SALES TAXES: Peterborough ranked 4th

1 point – Cities ranked (lower is better) according to the rate of provincial or territorial sales tax.

CRIME: Severity Crime, Peterborough scored 84.0, ranked 100, Violent Crime rate, Peterborough scored 1,040, ranked 66.  Totoal Crime rank, 6.396, ranked 73.

5 points – Violent crime rates (2 points), total crime rates per 100,000 people (2 points) and crime severity rates (1 point) for 2010. (Lower is better in all three cases.) Source: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.

DOCTORS: Doctors per 1,000, Peterborough scored 2.21, ranked 91^st.

6 points – Number of general practice and specialist physicians per community and converted to doctors per 1,000 people. Source: Canadian Medical Association

HEALTH PROFESSIONALS: Peterborough scored 3.49%, ranked 54

4 points – Percentage of people in each city who are employed in health occupations. Source: 2006 Census

TRANSIT: Peterborough came in at 2.46%, ranked 86th

5 points – Based on the percentage of the workforce utilizing public transit. Source: 2006 Census

AMENITIES: Peterborough has 1 Hospital, 1 College and 1 University

 3 points – One point each for a hospital, university and college. Cities in a CMA area received credit if a particular institution was located anywhere in the CMA.

CULTURE: Peterborough scored 1.36% and was ranked 69th

Bonus points – A city could receive up to 5 points based on the percentage of people employed in arts, culture, recreation and sports. Source: 2006 Census

Best Places to Live 2012 displays cities’ rankings in each category and total rankings out of 190 cities, not points.

All data and calculations are on this downloadable spreadsheet.

Listing Status Report Jan 1 - Oct 31, 2011

LISTING STATUS REPORT
1-Jan-2011 TO 30-Oct-2011

	RESIDENTIAL	COMMERCIAL	MULTIFAMILY	FARM	TOTALS
ACTIVE	1285	193	29	25	1532
SOLD	2390	93	50	44	2577
CONDITIONAL	45	6	0	0	51
EXPIRED	1546	236	26	43	1851
CANCELLED	716	41	9	21	787
WITHDRAWN	111	6	1	2	120
TOTALS	6093	575	115	135	6918

LISTING STATUS REPORT
1-Oct-2011 TO 30-Oct-2011

	RESIDENTIAL	COMMERCIAL	MULTIFAMILY	FARM	TOTALS
ACTIVE	292	35	12	6	345
SOLD	207	6	8	4	225
CONDITIONAL	29	6	0	0	35
EXPIRED	276	35	3	3	317
CANCELLED	89	5	5	1	100
WITHDRAWN	9	2	0	0	11
TOTALS	902	89	28	14	1033

HST confusion abounds in Ontario

It seems that the majority of Ontarians still don’t get it.

According to a recent Ipsos Reid survey, 56 per cent of Ontarians still mistakenly believe that the harmonized sales tax (HST) applies to the full purchase price of an existing home.

In truth, the tax only applies to the transaction fees for existing homes, and applies to the full price for new homes.

Since the average price of a resale home in Ontario is roughly $330,000, the majority of the survey’s respondents thought they would have to pay an additional $40,000 to purchase the home, according to the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA).

The association says the province’s Realtors are become increasingly concerned that this persistent confusion is in fact dampening the housing market.

"We see it on the front lines every day. Clearly, Ontarians still don't know what the HST covers and what is exempt," OREA President Dorothy Mason said in a news release. "This is not helping the housing market, and it's not helping the Ontario economy. This confusion means that many buyers think the cost of a resale home is tens of thousands of dollars higher than it actually is.

"We're doing our part to inform our clients, but we shouldn't have to do it alone. We're calling on the Ontario government to launch an immediate public awareness campaign to educate taxpayers and end the HST confusion," said Mason.
Ipsos Reid surveyed 830 Ontarians, between October 4th and 11 th, on behalf of OREA. The estimated margin of error is +/-3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Source: www.mortgagebrokernews.ca

CMHC's May housing starts

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was reported as 189,100 units in May, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, down from the revised 201,800 units in April.

"Housing starts decreased in both the singles and the multiples segments in May," said Bob Dugan, chief economist at CMHC's market analysis centre. "The decrease in housing starts in May is consistent with our forecast that housing starts for 2010 will reach 182,000 units."

The seasonally adjusted annual rate for urban starts decreased by 9.5 per cent to 165,200 units in May.

Housing starts were previously expected to come in at an annualized rate of 205,000 for May. But the revised number is more in line with Canada's typical household-creation rate of 175,000 a year.

Source: www.mortgagebrokernews.ca

Housing starts hit 2009 high

Housing starts hit their highest level this year in November, more proof that Canada's real-estate market has clawed out of recession.

Starts rose slightly to 158,500 units, on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from 157,400 in October as single-home construction outweighed a drop in multiple home activity, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Tuesday.

“The improvement in housing starts continued in November,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC's chief economist.

The results were slightly less than the 165,000 starts economists had expected. Still, they're running at a much stronger level than in April, when they sunk to the 118,500 mark.

Record low interest rates are fuelling a rebound in Canada's real-estate market, spurring rising prices and a flurry of buying activity. The Bank of Canada will provide its current view of lending rates and the economy today at 9 a.m. Eastern time.

More builders have plans in the works, a report showed yesterday. Building permits jumped 18 per cent in October to the highest value in 13 months, Statistics Canada said yesterday.

Multiple starts eased in November, CMHC said, to 71,300 units from 72,500 units a month earlier. Single starts rose 3.4 per cent to 69,800 units.
The annual rate of urban starts has risen the most in Quebec, at 10 per cent, followed by Atlantic Canada.

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