Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Recently you discussed selling the family home. A question arising from this is that in general terms would you say that real estate will keep pace with inflation? Have we seen the end of escalating prices? With boomers aging has real estate lost its glitter? I would be interested to hear your thoughts.

Article Excerpt

In the next five or 10 years, I think real estate booms and busts will be local phenomena that take place in reaction to changes in the local economy. I doubt we’ll see the near-universal rise in prices that we’ve seen in this decade, which was mainly due to easy financing and artificially low interest rates. Now more than ever, you should look at what you might call portfolio considerations, rather than focusing on predictions of real-estate price trends. Most Canadians should own their own home, if only for the tax advantages and inflation hedge. But for most investors, the family home provides all the real-estate exposure you need. Investment real estate may be riskier than in the past. It will no longer have the tailwind provided by easy financing and low interest rates, and it will be more vulnerable to deterioration in the local real-estate market. Keep that in mind if you are tempted to devote a major portion of…