CANADIAN HOME SALES SO RECOVERY IN JUNE J une saw Canadian home sales increase for the first time this year however, average selling prices were still slightly lower than they were a year ago. According to The Canadian Real Estate Association there were 4.1 percent more homes sold in June than there were in May. That’s the first time in 2018 that sales have increased from month to month, as the market continues to digest the new federal mortgage “stress test”rules that were implemented at the start of this year. While home sales saw month over month growth, it was not all good news as numbers show it was the slowest June for home selling in five years with 11 percent fewer sales in June 2018 than there were in the same month a year earlier. Sales were up in June, but the selling price was down. Nationally, the average price of a home that sold in June was $496,000, down 1.3 percent from where it was a year ago, making it the fifth straight month that the national market has posted yearly declines.
CANADA CUTS MUSTARD FROM RETALIATORY TARIFF LIST W ell for ages people have debated on ketchup or mustard for a hot dog. Well Canadian top dogs in Ottawa have made it clear American-made ketchup does not cut the mustard in Canada. Mustard was on the proposed list of U.S. products for retaliatory tariffs, but the federal government dropped it just before the tariffs took effect July 1, cutting Canadian mustard seed farmers a break. Several industry groups petitioned Ottawa to get certain items taken off the government’s tariff hit list, but were not so lucky. Given that Canada is the world's largest producer and exporter of mustard seed it should come as no surprise that it was cut from the list as in 2017, Canada sold $120 million worth of mustard seed abroad, more than half of it going to the U.S. Plus, Canada is home to just a handful of boutique mustard makers however, Canada does have a large-scale ketchup production in Canada.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JULY 2018
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