We have been speculating over this last year that the Canadian Dollar or Loonie would, at some point in the not too distant future, be at parity with the US Dollar. The stability of the conservative Canadian banking system, mostly untouched by toxic securities, was like a beacon in the night, and particularly this year, when contrasted with the crisis in the US banking system. Well, it’s finally happened, and Canadians can be proud. Yesterday at 4:26 PM in Toronto, Bloomberg.com quoted the Loonie at $1.0048 in comparison with our Greenback. For the entire article, see Loonie vs. Dollar. An important part of this news, according to the Bloomberg article, is that the Loonie is not likely to experience much of a reduction in relative value for a while.

Well, if you are a Canadian sitting on the sidelines waiting to buy a winter home or condo here in sunny Palm Springs, now is a great time to act. Prices on Palm Springs properties, depending on location, are down 30% to 60% from the historical highs reached at the top of the bubble in 2005/2006. At that time, the Loonie was worth somewhere around 80 cents US to the US Dollar.

The strengthening of the Canadian dollar to parity with the US dollar presently gives to Canadian buyers an effective further reduction of 20% on our Palm Springs real estate prices. This is relative to prices that they would have paid in 2005/2006.

So if you are a Canadian, looking south of your border for that place in the sun to escape the winter, now is the time to go for your very own piece of Palm Springs real estate. After all, your winter is only five or six months away.

You’re not getting any younger, so what are you waiting for?