Housing prices are set by what the market bears. In other words the IMF and the USA can go pound sand. The reason our houses are worth more, is because we actually have superior infrastructure and Canada is GREAT place to live. People with money want to live here, and our communities and houses are not run-down crime-ridden rat holes.

As long as there are buyers who want quality homes in quality neighborhoods, Canadian real estate will hold it's value. As far as personal debt goes, the IMFs data sources are bias and inept. Our unemployment rates is going to get even better in the near future too. We actually have regulations in place (with teeth) that don't even allow for the bulk of our citizens taking on stupid and bad debt. Banks in Canada have ALWAYS been fairly tight with extending credit.

We'll be just fine thank you very much.

Housing prices are like stock prices, there is nothing that the individual can do about it, ecept, perhaps, not buy, but it would take a lot of us to make any impact.

IMF should share its "House of Bilderberg" supplied Global Financial Modelling software with Carney and the Big Banks so they could step in and dry up funds going to "Main Street" in Canada just as they are doing on Wall Street.

Why are the dishing up mortgages that are putting people under such financial stress in the first place?

Why is the Government not taxing the banks for issuing "financial stress" mortgages and put the Banks in their place.

Why did these Conservatives appoint an ex-Goldman Sacks (the largest crime syndicate operating in the World today) executive as the Bank of Canada Governor?

And this women came from the ranks of "The House of Bilderberg" and its interlock with The Pratt House in NY who scripted the 2008 collapse and now the Euro crisis in the hopes of gaining a single Global currency to be administered by the merging of BIS, IMF and The World Bank.

Canada isn't immune to the worlds economy . It's going to catch up with us. And the spending spree our government is on is not going to help . Are not Conservatives supposed to Conserve - less government . Whats up - Prisons , military spending , more Mp's etc etc . We should be concentrating on jobs and the economy .

Canadians carry more than 1.5 times debt to income. We have housing prices that since the early part of the last decade have gone parabolic. I have no love for the IMF, but what they are saying is accurate, they are just too late as usual. Beware the narrative fallacy where you tell yourself a story about why things won't change. History is made at the curves in the road, and Canada cannot mathematically keep adding debt to their balance sheet without adding earnings. As we become more overlevered, we risk the cycle reversing and substantial losses far beyond 15%. Get defensive and liquid now, because corrections from parabolic moves are not soft.

They're just jealous we survived the recession so well.

All the griping here does not undo the fact that Canadians ARE carrying too much consumer debt, the housing market in large urban centres IS cooling off and the global economy on which we depend for exports IS tanking. Whine about the IMF all you like, they are giving sensible warnings that ought to be heeded. Shooting the messenger is a popular pastime but it doesn't change the validity of the message.

Take a hike IMF. Go clean-up the mess you have created around the world in devastating the third world and making their people poorer.

Yeah Canada has its problems too but, the IMF is the last people we should be listening to.

It is irresponsible for the IMF to provide this kind of forecast. The analysis is done by economists who are working with no real insight into the Canadian real estate market. Their working with economic models that are purely theoretical. The two cities that have the highest housing prices in Canada are Toronto and Vancouver. The strength of these markets is from new immigrants and foreign investors. You can still get a nice home or condo for $1 million dollars in these cities whereas in London, Paris, Rome, New York etc., you'll get 1000 sq ft in a not so great building.

Harper has been traveling all over the world telling everyone what a great job that him and his trained seal ( Flaherty) have been doing, maybe he should stay home and keep us out of the US's wars.

If economists new what they were talking about there would only be one economist and he would have all the answers.
the IMF says Canada's economy likely grew by 2.2 per cent this year and will expand a further 1.9 per cent next year.
Sure hang your hat on that "likely".