Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you’ve probably noticed something unusual this recession – high unemployment and higher home prices. Odd, right? Usually when people are at risk of losing their jobs and business, their cost of living doesn’t rise. Free markets tend to manage risk this way, choking off credit as economic risk […]
Canadian real estate buyers are driving prices using irrational exuberance. US Federal Reserve (The Fed) data shows Canada’s homebuyers were “exuberant” in Q3 2020. This is when buyers disregard fundamentals, and paid more because they felt they couldn’t lose. This isn’t new, but it’s not as old as some have assumed. Canadian homebuyers irrationally drove […]
Central banks are flooding economies with cheap credit, and trying to prevent bubbles. Well, some countries are trying to prevent bubbles. Canada has decided home price inflation is an uncontrollable consequence of the environment. In fact, the country’s central bank welcomed the rapid home price growth as “needed.” That’s not normal. Not by a long […]
Greater Vancouver real estate, once a hot commodity for foreign buyers, is losing appeal. BC’s non-resident homebuyers made a sharp decline in January. That might be a one-off, but last year’s numbers still show a modest drop in foreign buyers. There is an interesting shift in buying behavior though. Greater Vancouver is seeing a smaller […]
Last March, the Canadian government sprung into action when news of a pandemic struck. No, not for PPE as you might guess. An email shows they rejected an offer from a major N95 supplier, stating “masks are not a priority.” If healthcare wasn’t the government’s top priority, what was? Preserving real estate prices, it would […]
Canada’s mortgage lenders have seen the arrears rate fall down to pre-pandemic levels. The composition of that rate is now totally different though. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows us the number of mortgages in arrears over 90 days at non-bank lenders for Q3 2020. The rate of arrears is now back to where it […]
Canada’s largest bank sees a lot of risk in real estate, just not where other people may see it. RBC Senior Economist Robert Hogue published a list of risks that may impact real estate markets near-term. The bank feels government aid kept prices moving higher, but the market is “far from risk free.” Here’s some […]
Most didn’t think it was possible, but this morning’s numbers show Canada is now more dependent on real estate. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) GDP data shows residential investment made a big climb in Q4 2020. The segment of investment has grown much faster than total GDP over the past few years. Canada is now almost […]
Canada’s government bond market is seeing yields surge, and it’s going to be felt in real estate. The Government of Canada‘s (GoC) 5-Year benchmark bond yield jumped yesterday. We know, we already covered rising yields just a few days ago. I promise this is kind of a big deal, and I’m not just harping on […]
Risk models from Canada’s largest bank shows a wider range of uncertainty for real estate. RBC’s latest models, shared with analysts this week, shows a general forecasted improvement. The downside hasn’t changed much, indicating a little more uncertainty. They also shared they are considering two new and “more severe” scenarios for energy and real estate. […]
