Canadians are suddenly borrowing a lot less mortgage debt these days. Bank of Canada (BoC) data shows new mortgage lending contracted in December 2021. New lending, including new mortgages and refinancing, fell to the lowest level since March 2020. It’s a sudden reversal for borrowers as price growth hits a fevered pitch and higher rates […]
Canadian new housing construction is slowing, but remains above pre-pandemic levels. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) data shows new housing starts slowed in January 2022. The number of new homes to start construction fell below last year’s level. Financial institutions forecast this will continue for at least a couple of years. Canadian New Home […]
Canada’s economic recovery has hinged on real estate, and mortgage debt highlights it. Data from the Bank of Canada (BoC) shows mortgage debt slowing in growth in December 2021. However, slowing at the current annual growth rate might not look like much, growing at double the rate of GDP. Mortgage debt has grown so fast, […]
Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories. Canadian Real Estate Madness Or Supply? Canadian Real Estate Prices Don’t Add Up: BMO Canadian real estate prices are growing even faster than during the late ‘80s bubble. Annual growth reached 28% in January 2022, with prices rising a whopping 46.4% over the past two […]
Canadian real estate prices are soaring, but the fastest growth is not coming from big cities. BMO chief economist Douglas Porter tells clients to really think hard about this growth. Home prices are now rising even faster than at the peak of the 1980s real estate bubble. Most of that growth isn’t coming from emerging […]
The call is coming from inside the House. Canadian real estate is significantly overvalued, according to the government’s own research. A new report from the non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) dropped this week. It looks at housing affordability, and is meant to give policymakers a primer on the issue. The report concludes real estate prices […]
Canada’s recent housing boom is expected to satisfy demand for years. Last year, the country saw 271,200 new homes begin construction, up a whopping 25.1% from a year before. This is just under the record reached in 1976, and obviously much higher than normal. That might have been the top of this cycle, according to […]
There’s a good reason you might be feeling Canada’s economic recovery, and that’s because of how it’s measured. Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) ripped higher in Q3 2021 and it’s just shy of the pre-2020 peak. Aggregate GDP measures are only useful for the size of an industry, not how it impacts people. For the […]
Canadian inflation didn’t hear your transitory call apparently — it’s widening to other categories. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows the consumer price index (CPI) soared in January. The annual growth rate reached 5.1% for the month, advancing from 4.8% a month before. Canada’s inflation hasn’t grown this fast since September 1991, three decades ago. […]
Canada’s vacant home problem is improving but not very quickly. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) Census 2021 data reveals vacant homes fell from 2016. Resort towns have the highest share of vacant homes. This occurred despite the boom in year round residents in these cities. Let’s take a dive into the data. Canada’s Vacant Homes The […]
