The unemployment shock from the pandemic is still working its way around the country. Government of Canada (GoC) data shows Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), the unemployment benefit sparked by widespread workplace closures due to the pandemic, is seeing new applications slow in growth as of the week of August 2. The economy is starting […]
Canadian real estate buyers pay steep premiums to own, compared to their global peers. IMF research shows Canada’s house price-to-rent ratio, the difference between renting and buying, is one of the highest in the world. Owning a home in Canada more closely resembles ratios in countries like Latvia and Slovak Republic, than countries like the […]
Canadian real estate buyers were excitedly disregarding risk before the pandemic hit. The US Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Dallas Reserve) exuberance index shows expectations surged in Q1 2020. The index is designed to capture explosive price growth, detached from fundamentals. A single quarter isn’t enough to say the market is bound for further detachment, […]
Canada’s central bank is desperately trying to prop up real estate markets with liquidity. Bank of Canada (BoC) has been injecting billions into Canada Mortgage Bonds (CMBs). The central bank began purchasing a few million worth of bonds during last year’s real estate slow down. As the pandemic hit, the BoC began buying hundreds of […]
Canadians with supersized mortgages are requesting payment relief at a much higher rate than across the border. Both the US and Canada worked with banks to offer mortgage payment deferrals since March. Both countries launched their programs and had a sharp initial uptake at the same time. The rate of US mortgage deferrals have since […]
Canadian real estate is seeing another demand side factor disappear – international students. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data shows international student permit holders admitted, made a sharp decline in Q2 2020. The decline will continue into the fall, or drop further, as the government warns students may not be admitted due to the […]
Canada’s largest real estate markets have seen a dramatic slowdown since the onset of the pandemic. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data shows the number of permanent residents made a sharp decline in May. While Toronto and Vancouver can attribute this trend to the pandemic, it’s been a more long-term issue for Montreal. Toronto […]
Millions of Canadians are still on the government’s emergency income benefit. Government of Canada (GoC) data shows a small drop in users of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) by July 5th. Though there was a drop, about one in five Canadians are still using the benefit. Here’s how these numbers break down per province. […]
Canadians know real estate prices have grown very quickly, but most likely have no idea how fast. US Federal Reserve data shows when US home prices took a dive during the Great Recession, Canadian prices didn’t. Instead, Canada has flooded the market with a number of policies designed to increase the amount of debt households […]
Canada’s first-time buyers may be in for some volatility, and they don’t even know it yet. Earlier this year, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) warned first-time buyers that leaving just a 5% downpayment could be problematic. If the market had a sudden sharp turn, they could suddenly see their downpayment wiped out in […]
