Bitcoin continues to run, the housing market in Canada continues to be hot, and commercial real estate is still a question mark.
This week’s reading takes a brief look at the crazy market conditions we’re experiencing and makes me give some further thought to what will transpire between now and when we finally come “out” of our current COVID situation.
Will we see any sector crashes beforehand? Will markets remain hot and see a boost upon a full re-opening? Many questions remain unanswered, but it will certainly be interesting to see how things play out in the next few months.
The Case for Buying a Pre-Construction Home | MoneySense
Home prices in Canada continue to surge and COVID-19 has made it more difficult to buy. Why is this exactly? For one, there seem to be record low inventories, likely a result of people reluctant to list their homes and have a number of strangers walking through during showings. Not only that, but the difficulty involved in subsequently having to search for a new home themselves. For buyers, this makes a reasonable case to look at pre-construction homes as an option. There are many positives in buying a pre-construction homes, one of which is not having to get into a bidding war.
Bitcoin is Hitting Record Highs | The Wall Street Journal
I didn’t want to discuss Bitcoin anymore at this point, but the digital currency (I use the term currency loosely) continues making record highs. The market cap has now surpassed one trillion US dollars – and I still don’t get it! I could write an entire bear-case article on the subject and may do that at some point. When I see so many people piling in so that they don’t miss out, it irks me and makes me wonder. I’m okay with missing out at this point. Even if a bitcoin ends up being worth USD 100K, I’m only doubling my money now – and to me, there are much, much safer bets to do that with WAY less downside risk.
Can REITs Survive the Downtown Downturn? | Financial Post
Another topic of interest lately is how well the retail and commercial Real Estate Investment Trusts will emerge from the pandemic. There are good arguments on both sides, but it’s impossible to tell if there will be a shift to online or a pent-up demand for shopping at malls and other physical retail locations. My default from personal behaviour would be to think we’ll see a transition to online, which may happen to a degree. Funny enough, the general human behaviour I’ve witnessed throughout the pandemic is in fact the opposite. This leads me to believe that people will continue shopping at physical retail locations long after COVID and are itching to do so now.
Check out the latest articles on the homepage including “5 Defensive Canadian Stocks I’m Buying in 2021“, and have a great week!
