Message From
the CEO
A Year of “Flight-to-Quality”
Increasingly, the strength of the Royal LePage brand has been an irresistible drawing card When we look back on 2009, I am quite certain that the Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times” will seem an appropriate tagline for this rollercoaster of a year. The year certainly did not begin on a strong note. Dragged down by the worst global economic crisis in over half a century, the Canadian market suffered a horrendous drop-off in unit sales volumes during the dark days of the past winter. As steep and deep as the plunge was, the climb out of that abyss, starting in March, was equally as impressive. While I would advise against premature celebration with so many economic challenges still to resolve, it appears that the worst for this cycle is now behind us. The Canadian real estate market has been a reliable source of advancement The Canadian real estate industry and economy are cyclical in nature. We experience periods, such as most of this decade, in which the industry, and house prices, grow at a rate greater than incomes. And then the market ‘corrects’ which gives home prices and listings supply an opportunity to adjust to consumer demand. The important thing to remember, for both your own career planning and to reassure your clients, is that the Canadian real estate market has been a reliable source of advancement for a very long time. Industry growth over the decades has been approximately 10% per year, half of that in home price appreciation; half in increased unit sales. Few industries can speak to historical expansion of this quality. If there is a silver lining to the storm clouds we’ve lived with during the recession, it is that Royal LePage has fared
2 | Leading Edge Magazine | Fall 2009
