Canada’s banks scrambled to issue hundreds of thousands of mortgage deferrals, and new data shows why. Bank of Canada (BoC) staff calculations show a significant number of households would struggle to cover just a few months of mortgage payments without income. Nearly a quarter of households don’t have enough liquid to pay their mortgage for […]
Canadian homeowners love spending their home equity, but how much is left for an emergency? Bank of Canada (BoC) data shows homeowners have drawn a little over a third of available HELOC credit in Q4 2019. That doesn’t sound bad, until you realize what the distribution looks like. A significant number of homeowners were already […]
An elite group of US economists are declaring a recession with just one quarter worth of data. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a private organization of top economists is the pseudo authority on the US business cycle. The organization has declared the US economy began a recession in February. This marks the end of […]
One of Canada’s Big Six banks is joining the CMHC and credit risk agencies in forecasting lower prices. National Bank of Canada (NBC) economists expect real estate prices to make a sharp drop this year. The bank is calling what would be the largest price drop in Canada’s history, with Toronto and Vancouver hit hardest. […]
Canadian employment numbers climbed, but not all regions were so lucky. The Statistics Canada (Stat Can) Labour Force Survey (LFS) shows the number of people employed made the first post-pandemic increase in May. Despite the increase in jobs, the rate of unemployment climbed even higher as more people began searching for work. This trend was […]
Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s most important stories. Canadian Real Estate CMHC Head Warns Homebuyers To Question Motives Of Those Saying Prices Will Rise The head of the CMHC is warning home buyers to be skeptical of anyone saying real estate prices will rise. He followed the warning with a series of […]
Canadian real estate markets may be getting another inventory headwind soon. National Bank of Canada (NBC) research estimates AirBNB hosts may contribute to oversupply later this year. As the slowdown impacts hosts, many may be incentivized to sell. By their estimates, just a quarter of hosts selling would cause inventory in cities like Toronto and […]
Canada’s national housing agency isn’t just forecasting price declines, they’re preparing for them. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) announced changes to its mortgage insurance. Homebuyers with less than 20% down should now expect lower debt service maximums, a more stringent credit quality check, and a ban on borrowing down payments. If those sound like […]
Canadians are back to using their homes as ATMs. At least they were, during the first month of the pandemic. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) filings show the balance of loans secured by home equity reached a new high in March. The record is less surprising than the annual rate of growth […]
Greater Toronto real estate sales are still frozen by the pandemic, but the inventory ratio is improving. Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) described prices as “virtually unchanged” in May. Home sales predictably made a sharp decline, however not as much as inventory – helping to relieve pressure for prices to move higher. Greater Toronto […]
