Stock markets are terrific newsmakers in that they always report how the major indices like the Dow Jones and S&P 500 have done in the past day, month or year. The ROI on your investment is the same regardless if you live in one part of the country or another.

In the United States, there is a popular metric called the S & P Case Schiller home Price Index. This essentially tells you whether the average price of residential homes are going up or down. I do not pay much attention to it for the following reason.

Generally speaking, real estate is a local phenomenon and it does not necessarily correlate across an entire region or country. Even in the same city, certain communities will outperform or underperform others. One cannot extrapolate a national average to be an accurate indicator as to what is occurring in one particular region. For the most part, the trends to watch are in the area you are investing in. For example, Toronto’s expansion of the 401 highway should not grab your attention if you are focused on Edmonton. There are some variables that would defy this rule such as interest rates and oil prices which have a national or global impact.