Any action by the finance ministry to cool down the country’s real estate markets might be too late at this point, according to an industry executive
Ottawa’s housing segment is probably already “too far down the road” to evade the effects of an economic shock in the event of a downturn, according to an industry executive.
Kash Pashootan, who works with First Avenue Advisory of Raymond James as senior vice-president and portfolio manager, said that any action taken by Canada’s finance ministry to alleviate the country’s overheated real estate markets might be too late at this point.
“I think the risk is there. If we have some sort of cooling, we’re going to have a scenario, per se, to deal with regardless of what the government does at this point,” Pashootan said in an interview with BNN.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau earlier gave assurances that the government is keeping an eagle-eyed gaze on Canadian housing so that it can adjust its strategy as required.
“We’ll watch what happens in the market. And should we believe that there are things that we should do, we will consider those. We won’t give any advance sense of what we’re going to do because we’ll pay attention along the way and come to the right conclusions,” Morneau said in a previous BNN interview.
“We want to make sure that our housing market stays one that is working effectively. And as we see challenges, we will of course think about ways that we can respond that ensure that our market remains stable,” Morneau added.
The Liberal government rode to victory during last year’s elections on a platform that promised to address the issues of affordability and homelessness hounding the country’s housing sector. However, a federal policy that adjusted the minimum down payment to 10 per cent on homes valued above $500,000 proved unsuccessful in cooling down sales in the most active markets.
Kash Pashootan, who works with First Avenue Advisory of Raymond James as senior vice-president and portfolio manager, said that any action taken by Canada’s finance ministry to alleviate the country’s overheated real estate markets might be too late at this point.
“I think the risk is there. If we have some sort of cooling, we’re going to have a scenario, per se, to deal with regardless of what the government does at this point,” Pashootan said in an interview with BNN.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau earlier gave assurances that the government is keeping an eagle-eyed gaze on Canadian housing so that it can adjust its strategy as required.
“We’ll watch what happens in the market. And should we believe that there are things that we should do, we will consider those. We won’t give any advance sense of what we’re going to do because we’ll pay attention along the way and come to the right conclusions,” Morneau said in a previous BNN interview.
“We want to make sure that our housing market stays one that is working effectively. And as we see challenges, we will of course think about ways that we can respond that ensure that our market remains stable,” Morneau added.
The Liberal government rode to victory during last year’s elections on a platform that promised to address the issues of affordability and homelessness hounding the country’s housing sector. However, a federal policy that adjusted the minimum down payment to 10 per cent on homes valued above $500,000 proved unsuccessful in cooling down sales in the most active markets.
