After years of doing mostly nothing, Canadian regulators are springing into action. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), after successfully rolling out B-20 Guidelines, are turning their focus to equity lending. Mortgages issued this way allow lenders to gloss over income, and rely mostly on equity in the home. 1 in 5 […]
There’s a lot of factors that impact real estate prices, but they all ultimately depend on liquidity. Liquidity is just a way of saying there needs to be people that want to buy your home, and have enough money to buy it. The money used to come from income and savings, but in the late […]
The Toronto real estate sold data drama continues, after less than a month of being published. Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) notified members that there have been reports of false sold data being submitted to the MLS. Agents looking to “protect” consumer privacy have submitted false sold information, to obfuscate how much was really paid […]
No, we won’t call Toronto real estate a bubble today. Usually we shy away from using the B-word entirely. Canadians tend to look at you like you’ve insulted their mother when you say it. Instead we’re going to discuss the phases of a real estate bubble, and let you make a decision for yourself. Understanding […]
A few weeks ago, Bay Street’s top strategist invited me to breakfast, to talk kittens and rainbows. Kidding, we obviously talked about Canadian real estate. Most of the conversation was just a rehash of data we post here, but he did say something that stuck with me. Towards the end of breakfast he goes, “an […]
Canadian real estate owners with a mortgage are doing “very good” with their payments. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), using Equifax data, is observing credit score improvements across the country. The average credit score of Canadian mortgage holders is improving. This may come as a surprise to some, but it doesn’t mean what […]
Peak Canadian real estate investment is behind us, according to another indicator. Statistics Canada (StatCan) numbers show residential investment as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is moving lower. Taking a dive through unadjusted data, we can see this trend is primed to head much lower soon. What Is Residential Investment? Residential investment is […]
Canadian real estate buyers were “ running out of land” last year, but now they’re running out of money. The Bank of Canada (BoC) and the Office of The Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) are currently reviewing the limits of covered bonds that can be issued. Banks have become increasingly dependent on these bonds for […]
People often boast of the quality lending standards that support Canadian real estate. Every now and then, lawyer and investor Joey Evans reminds us that’s not really the case. He recently posted a great example on his Twitter account, highlighting a Toronto home. The mansion, located in the City of Toronto, had mortgage debt over 3x […]
Have you ever woke up after a night of drinking, and only had a vague recollection of what happened? Then your responsible friend sets off a chain of text messages, trying to figure out where you went wrong? Well that’s what the Canadian real estate industry just did, and man-o-man did people screw up. The […]
