Earlier this week Andrea and Nicole hopped on the train to Toronto and attended a few different industry events.
Industry events like these are pivotal for our independent brokerage as it helps to ensure that we are staying up to date with the trends of our industry.
They also offer a unique opportunity for UCC to have intimate conversations with the decision-makers of our industry.
For instance, the event that they attended on Monday was hosted by FSRA, which is the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario.
This organization is, essentially, in charge of how all financial institutions conduct their business in Ontario.
So, it offers a great opportunity for our organization to be able to attend their events, ask questions to the right people, and have a better understanding of the guidelines and expectations of our organization.
If you want to know a bit more about the events Nicole & Andrea attended this week, make sure you keep an eye on our UCC Mortgage Co. LinkedIn page as they will be posting updates there soon!
Speaking of keeping up with industry trends… I think we can all agree that housing prices increased significantly from 2020 to 2023. In fact, here’s a chart showing just that:
We took property prices from TRREB (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board) and figured out the compound annual growth rate.
It’s 6.89% from the year 2000 to the end of 2023.
This shouldn’t be a big surprise, to anybody.
But what drove those price increases?
Immigration?
Interest Rates?
Covid?
Work from Home?
Yes, all the above probably contributed to the increase in real estate prices in some way, but there’s another key driver that most people don’t talk about.
Check out this chart:
We took Canada’s M2 Money Supply data and figured out the compound annual growth rate for the same time period…
6.94%!
2020-2023 Increase in Real Estate Prices = 6.89%
2020-2023 Increase in Canadian M2 = 6.94%
The question then becomes, did real estate prices go up, or did the value of the dollars used to purchase the real estate, go down?
People think they are getting “richer” when property prices are going up.
But are they really?
If everything around you is increasing in price at approximately the same rate, are you really getting ahead?
Also, if everything is going up in value at the same rate, what makes real estate so special?
Why are there so many real estate investors all of a sudden?
What makes investing in real estate superior to investing in other assets that are also increasing at the same rate as the money supply?
It’s the leverage.
What makes real estate a powerful investment, is the leverage!
When you put down 20% on a house, if the “price goes up” on average 7% per year then you’re getting a 35% return on your money (7% return on 20% down).
You will often hear about people who became very wealthy in real estate.
And they will get recognition for their expert real estate knowledge.
But I think their true skill is their understanding of how money works.
And identifying that real estate can be used as a solution to the problems with our money.
Real Estate, and more specifically the leverage used to purchase the real estate, is the tool they use to “get ahead” once they understand that their money is constantly being devalued.
And when you’re making a 35% return on your money, you are far exceeding the rate at which your money is being devalued.
And you are one of the few that is “getting ahead”.
If this frustrates you, or if you are having a hard time following, I don’t blame you.
It’s ridiculous that this is how we need to think in order to “get ahead”.
It’s much easier just to go to work, save a few $$, and hand it over to the bank to invest for you in GICs, mutual funds, etc.
But unfortunately, that’s not really getting anybody ahead these days..
It may feel like your money is growing, but if those returns don’t outpace the dollar devaluation, then you’re not actually getting ahead.
It took me a long time to wrap my head around this concept.
And sometimes I wish I never would have learned it in the first place.
Sometimes it’s just so much easier to be naïve to these types of things.
But I’m the type that once I see it, I now cannot un-see it.
And I want others to see it as well.
So hopefully you’re beginning to see what I’m seeing!
Until next time,
Vince
