Canadians with supersized mortgages are requesting payment relief at a much higher rate than across the border. Both the US and Canada worked with banks to offer mortgage payment deferrals since March. Both countries launched their programs and had a sharp initial uptake at the same time. The rate of US mortgage deferrals have since […]
This Week’s Top Stories: Canadian Mortgage Deferrals Soar, As Government Warns Young Homebuyers
Time for your weekly cheat sheet on this week’s most important stories. Canadian Real Estate CMHC Warns Canadians: “Support For Homeownership Cannot Be Unlimited” The CMHC, Canada’s national housing agency, had a warning for young homebuyers: Be realistic about your debt. As a cautionary tale, the agency’s CEO walked the federal government through a scenario […]
Canadian Households Are Deferring Almost $1 Billion In Debt Payments Per Month
Canadian households are asking banks if they can skip a few payments, and banks are (mostly) saying yes. Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) data shows hundreds of thousands of payments are being deferred. The number, as big as it is, represents select member banks – meaning there’s many more deferrals. Even just using this data, it […]
Canada’s GDP Growth Is Flat, But Real Estate Outperforms
The Canadian economy has been leaning more and more on real estate these days. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows gross domestic product (GDP) was flat in February. Despite the flat growth, real estate advanced and significantly outperformed the general economy. Who Cares About February? We know, February was like, totally forever ago – and […]
Canadian HELOC Growth Was Drying Up Before The Pandemic
Canadians using their home as an ATM was drying up before the pandemic. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) filings show the balance of credit secured by homes showing minimal growth in February. The slowdown is almost entirely due to a drop in personal loans in this segment, such as HELOCs. Loans Secured […]
This Week’s Top Stories: Canada’s Largest Cities See Insolvencies and Unemployment Make Big Climbs
Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s most important stories. Canadian Real Estate Employment In Canada’s Largest Cities Is Worse Than It Looks The unemployment rate in Canada’s biggest cities is rising, but doesn’t capture how bad things are. In Toronto the unemployment rate reached 7.8% in March, up 11.42% from last year. This […]
Canadian Mortgage Growth Hits Highest Level Since 2018… After Revisions
Canadian real estate markets were busier than usual at the beginning of last month. This helped to push mortgage debt higher, even though the back half of the month was halted due to the pandemic. Bank of Canada (BoC) data shows outstanding mortgage credit reached a new high in February. The year-over-year growth is now […]
This Week’s Top Stories: Canadian Unemployment Makes Unprecedented Increase & BoC Does Emergency Cuts
Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s most important stories. Canadian Real Estate A Panicked Bank Of Canada Just Cut Interest Rates Back To Record Lows The Bank of Canada (BoC) made another unscheduled rate cut last week. The central bank’s policy rate is now just 0.25%, down 150 bps form a month before. […]
A Panicked Bank of Canada Just Cut Interest Rates Back To Record Lows
Canada’s central bank is flooding the credit market, and hoping nothing sinks. The Bank of Canada (BoC) made an unscheduled rate decision today, dropping the policy rate to just 0.25%. The decision is the third cut just this month, and marks a return to the lowest policy rate Canada has ever seen. Policy Interest Rate […]
Canadian HELOC Borrowing Was Grinding To A Halt Before The COVID-19 Crisis
Canadian homeowners were buckling down on the spending ahead of the pandemic. Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) data shows the balance of loans secured by residential real estate, such as HELOCs, made a tiny move in January. The movement, the weakest in over half a decade, saw the balance fall from all-time […]