The Canadian property bubble was recognized by an unlikely entity — the Canadian government. MP Adam Vaughan dropped the b word this week. Vaughan isn’t just an elected official, but also the Secretary to the Minister in charge of most of the country’s housing policy. In a Twitter exchange, he explained how difficult it’s been […]
A new mortgage stress test? Don’t bother me with those peasant details. After Canada’s property bubble attracted global criticism, they announced tighter mortgage lending. On April 8, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said they would make the stress test harder. By the following Monday, the first bank launched a pilot mortgage […]
The Canadian economy’s recovery is well underway, and that means easy money may be on the way out. Bank of Canada (BoC) updated its outlook earlier today. The central bank said the accelerated recovery will allow them to ease stimulus. To start, they’ll taper quantitative ease (QE), and speed up the end of their commitment […]
The Government of Canada (GoC) is facing mounting pressure to do more about home prices. BC-based housing activist Raymond Wong launched an e-petition last week. The petition calls for the Bank of Canada (BoC) to consider home prices when setting rate policy. In less than a week, the petition has enough signatures to be certified […]
Canadian real estate prices are rising at rates even the banks are warning about. There’s a lot of reasons this is happening, but one rarely discussed is the supersized borrowing from the Government of Canada (GoC). A lot of cash was needed during the pandemic, but Canada’s discretionary spending topped the G20. To help facilitate […]
The mystery of how Canada attracts so many big tech companies was revealed in a commercial real estate analysis. The country scored 5 spots on CBRE‘s 2020 list of Top 50 Tech Hubs. High-quality labor is one of the key reasons real estate prices haven’t been a drag. The other is Canadian tech workers make […]
Canadian real estate prices are now beyond frothy, and the government says that’s fine. They believe they can prevent home prices from falling, and let incomes catch up. If you’re in government or banking, you may have already seen me explain how impossible this is. If you haven’t, this is known as the “soft landing” […]
A Canadian official in charge of housing policy confirmed the current market is not an accident. Instead, it’s a conscious decision where the government picked the winners and losers. TVO aired an interview with MP Adam Vaughan yesterday, discussing housing policy. In the interview, Vaughan, who helps oversee the CMHC, said price drops are not […]
Academics theorize why developers won’t create more purpose-built rental housing. They cite everything from user behavior to policy restrictions. For some reason, they never think to just ask a real estate developer candidly. A few weeks ago I shared a popular Twitter thread on real estate rental development. Not a lot of people realize real […]
Canadian real estate markets may have got the first big cooling measure today. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) announced they are moving to tighten uninsured mortgage leverage. The organization that regulates Canada’s banks, eased the mortgage stress test last year. Now that it’s clear mortgages don’t need stimulus, they’re looking to […]
