The Government of Canada is using taxpayer money to invest in real estate at near peak valuations. The Department of Finance revealed the 2019 Budget yesterday, including new housing measures. Most notable is the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, which allows the CMHC, Canada’s national housing agency, to become an investor in your real estate. On […]
Toronto and Vancouver real estate is seeing default rates climb from recent lows. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) numbers show the ratio of delinquencies is climbing in both cities as of Q3 2018. The increase is most notable for the largest mortgages, a potential sign that reduced liquidity is making an impact. Mortgage Delinquencies […]
The Government of Canada is mulling over how to increase household debt. Seriously. The Ministry of Finance is considering extending the maximum amortization for insured mortgages. The move would lower payments relative to 25 year amortizations, in exchange for paying more interest. The move helps in the short-term, but can cost households a lot more. […]
Everyone knows the easiest way for a first-time buyer to buy a home, is to already own a home. The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) published results from its annual buyer survey. The survey asks recent and intending buyers about their experience, and gives the industry insights into their behavior. Most of it was not […]
Canadian real estate sales cooled last year – by a lot. Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) numbers show 2018’s sales were the slowest in years. In fact, Canadian home sales made one of the largest declines in a decade. Despite the fact that your Realtor may have shifted to “there’s no national market” mode, there’s […]
Toronto is expecting a lot more real estate supply, and that’s going to be a drag on rental price growth. Urbanation, a leading research firm for developers, is forecasting a big drop in the rate of growth for apartment rental rates in 2019. The firm expects the rise in new apartments to trim growth in […]
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house – not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well, except for Evan Siddall… fine, it was the afternoon and he was on Twitter. On Christmas Eve, the CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) defended mortgage stress testing. The head of […]
Canadian households just demonstrated debt is more complicated than bank economists think. Statistics Canada numbers, adjusted by former Maclean’s business editor Jason Kirby, show Canada’s debt to income ratio made a huge jump in Q3 2018. Canadian debt to income levels are now back above the US pre-Great Recession peak. That level, which is notoriously […]
Break out the champagne for the next open house, because it’s all clear sailing from here. That’s according to the CEO of one of Canada’s largest real estate developers, who declared Canadian real estate achieved a soft landing. The situation is not unlike the US being declared a soft landing in 2006, but just like […]
Canadian mortgage credit growth is falling, but how bad is it in real terms? People are comparing today’s low growth numbers to the mid-1990s. While there are some parallels, it more accurately resembles the early 1980s. Mortgage credit growth, when adjusted for inflation, is heading towards negative numbers. We haven’t actually experienced negative real growth […]
