Home Prices Dip

Canadian home prices slipped $6,600 on average in August, largely due to declines in Alberta. 

Price are still up 11.2% year-over-year, however.

One factor we'll be watching now is "borrowability."  That's our own crude measure of how hard it is for the average Canadian to get a mortgage with "good" terms. 

Lately it's been getting harder and harder to place less-creditworthy borrowers.  Our gut feel is that this credit tightening might soon spread more into "Alt-A" loans, and that could affect Canadian home prices.

Alt-A mortgages are also known as "Alternative A" mortgages.  Basically they are mortgages for people with better credit than subprime borrowers but not quite prime.

Miscellaneous Stat:  Garth Turner says Canadians have over 80% of their net worth in real estate.