US Mortgage rates are climbing, and are up significantly from the record low a few weeks ago. Freddie Mac‘s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) shows 30-year fixed mortgages hit a multi-month high for the week ending March 4, 2021. The lender said this is the highest average reading for the index since July. US 30-Year […]
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 […]
One of Canada’s big banks expects cooling measures for real estate soon. Derek Holt, Scotiabank’s Head of Capital Markets Economics, sees the Spring Budget including cooling measures for real estate. In a note penned to investors, the economist highlights how policy has been overly loose. He feels the next budget likely includes measures to cool […]
Canada’s economy is so dependent on housing, more money is now invested in homes than businesses development. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows investment in non-residential structures, machinery and equipment is down sharply in Q4 2020. The issue isn’t a lack of investment dollars though. Money is just being pumped into residential real estate. In […]
At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I honestly believe that bidding wars are among the greatest economic inefficiencies ever produced by the real estate market. In 2017, we saw a pretty wild market, with real-time price discovery being the greatest challenge of buyers, sellers, and realtors alike. As a result, we saw the arbitrary underpricing […]
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 […]
For Greater Toronto real estate, detached homes are living in 2017, while condos are stuck in 2009. Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) data shows home prices increased in February. When looked at in aggregate, the whole market is on fire. Breaking it down, there’s two distinct markets. Detached homes are adding multiple years of […]
Greater Vancouver suddenly has exuberant homebuyers once again, armed with cheap debt. Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) data shows composite prices made a big jump in February. Actually, almost all measures of home prices made a big leap. Some segments even added more than $44,000 to the value just last month. Let’s dive […]
Quarterly filings from one of Canada’s largest banks shows unusual weakness in Toronto. CIBC data shows their uninsured mortgage delinquency rate generally fell in Q1 2021. One notable exception is Greater Toronto, which is seeing the rate climb. A rise in the delinquency rate is unexpected for a market with high sale volumes and low […]
