Canadians will soon answer an age-old question—if home values are inflated to facilitate mortgage leverage, will regulators actually do anything? Canadian lenders are increasingly using blanket appraisals, treating pre-construction contract prices as market value to maximize leverage and close new home purchases. The move shifts risk from developers to buyers—especially those who bought at peak, […]
Canada’s central bank is running out of excuses. Headline inflation surged in September, according to Statistics Canada’s (StatCan) latest Consumer Price Index (CPI). Rising headline inflation is certainly a concern, but it was dwarfed by what the agency omitted: the Bank of Canada’s (BoC) preferred core inflation metrics. The BoC recently floated the idea of […]
Canadian real estate revived an old risk: mortgage debt is back in the driver’s seat. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows household credit climbed again in August, driven almost entirely by mortgage debt. While borrowing remains historically slow, mortgages are still growing much faster than other forms of credit—now accounting for nearly 8 in 10 […]
Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories. Canadian Real Estate Canada Sees Foreign Investment Surge, But They Want Debt—In US Dollars Canada just saw foreign investment return—but not in a good way. The country saw a net inflow of C$25.9 billion in August, the largest in over a year, and it was […]
Canada saw foreign investment return, but it wasn’t the positive indicator it normally signals. Statistics Canada (StatCan) data shows foreign investors recorded a net inflow of $25.9 billion in August, the most in over a year. Nearly all of it was debt demand, though not the kind policymakers brag about. Investors skipped government bonds, equities, […]
Canadian real estate sellers all had the same brilliant idea last month: list before inventory surges. Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) data shows September sales hit a multi-year high, but the volume remained tepid—especially in contrast to the record flood of new listings. Market balance is now the weakest since the ’90s real estate crash, […]
Canada just got another recession warning—falling new vehicle sales. Statistics Canada (StatCan) data shows new motor vehicle sales fell sharply in August, marking the biggest drop for the month since 2010. Durable goods like vehicles and homes see sales fall after the peak of the business cycle, signaling a recession that can’t be managed with […]
Canadian real estate developers are pulling back, even as policymakers flood the system with incentives. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows residential building permit values plunged in August, and the drop was even larger after adjusting for inflation. Canadian homebuilders are sending a clear warning signal: the risk is rising even faster than the astronomical […]
Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories. Canadian Real Estate Canadian Real Estate Resembles US Bubble After Perfect Storm: BMO Canadian real estate’s correction now mirrors the 2007 US housing bubble, according to BMO. Ontario prices have plunged much faster than any historical correction, more closely tracking US housing post-Great Recession. If […]
Canada may be fighting trade wars on two fronts, but its job market didn’t get the memo. Statistics Canada (StatCan) data show the country added tens of thousands of jobs in September. Heck, the data even shows a 6-figure addition of full-time jobs over the 30-day period. Suspicious? You’re onto something. Let’s talk about the […]
