Canadian real estate has a new risk factor catching the attention of regulators — CLPs. Combined Mortgage-HELOC Loan Plans (CLPs), better known as readvanceable mortgages, are fueling higher home prices. That was the take from OSFI, the country’s bank regulator. CLPs are rarely mentioned by regulators, but they’ve come up in several speeches since last […]
Canada’s central bank head piqued the interest of economists, and not because of his dazzling personality. Speaking to lawmakers, the Bank of Canada (BoC) Governor Tiff Macklem explained quantitative ease (QE) has no impact on housing. He further explained demand and the cost of housing determines mortgage demand. The statement was odd, not because he […]
Canada released the most Canadian look at COVID-19 deaths — by including real estate. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) studied age-adjusted COVID-19 mortality rates by housing type. The national stats agency found elevated mortality rates amongst those that live in high rise buildings. This was especially true for low income households, with one key exception. High […]
Canada’s central bank finally acknowledged inflation is a monetary policy issue. Bank of Canada (BoC) governor Macklem dumped the transitory inflation narrative today. In a speech to Toronto’s CFA Society, he explained rising interest rates are just one monetary policy tool they’ll use going forward. The other is quantitative tightening (QT), a program designed to […]
Canada’s central bank made its first interest rate hike since slashing it down to nearly nothing. The Bank of Canada (BoC) announced it will raise the overnight rate today, marking a path to rate normalization. Today’s hike was widely expected, and the first of many that are forecast over the next two years. Rising rates […]
Canadian politicians promoted a number of housing affordability measures during their campaign. The ones played up the most were vacancy taxes and non-resident speculation measures. Now that they’re in office, they aren’t so keen on actually implementing any of them. This might be due to a piece of paper buried pre-election — a threat of […]
Canada’s central bank is overwhelmingly expected to hike interest rates aggressively. We polled the country’s top finance experts for their overnight rate forecast. Nearly all expect the Bank of Canada (BoC) to hike rates tomorrow. They don’t see the rate hikes ending there, though. Over the next year, they see interest rates rising aggressively to […]
American real estate just spent another quarter in bubble territory, according to its central bank. The US Federal Reserve Exuberance Index shows US real estate was still exuberant in Q3 2021. A quarter before, the market fit the criteria set out by researchers to be considered a bubble. It also happened to be the quarter […]
Ontario rental evictions cratered during the initial public health restrictions. Government of Ontario data shows that rental evictions dropped sharply for the 2020-2021 period. The impact was likely short-lived, with the current period already rising more briskly. As public health restrictions are lifted, expect applications for evictions to normalize. That can mean double the filings […]
Global markets are puking as the Ukraine-Russia conflict presents global uncertainty and risk. BMO chief economist Douglas Porter wrote a special brief to clients today, explaining this doesn’t change much at this point. BMO still expects the Bank of Canada (BoC) and the US Federal Reserve to hike interest rates in March. The influence on […]
