Canada just fined the world’s largest bank for not following anti-money laundering rules. A local subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) paid over $700k in penalties last year. Despite only being fined weeks ago, FINTRAC, Canada’s financial intelligence unit, found the problems during a routine audit in 2019. The regulatory body […]
Canadian subprime real estate buyers are scrambling to join the housing gold rush. Earlier this week, we discussed the sharp climb in subprime mortgage borrowers in Q3 2021. Today we’ll break the Equifax data down by city and show the highest concentrations. All but three major cities in Canada saw their share of poor quality […]
Canada’s largest real estate board confirmed it’s building a for-profit subsidiary. The Toronto Real Estate Board (TRREB) emailed members to announce its new for-profit plan. This comes after brokers began to rally support for an inquiry into the decision to pursue profits. Some allege the plan was done in secret, but the board says they […]
Mortgage industry veteran Rob Butler, founder of Butler Mortgages and one of the most important names in the industry, shares his insights on the “infinite up” culture and the irrational exuberance of Canadian real estate. Want more? Subscribe to our new YouTube channel for analysis, news, and interviews you won’t find anywhere else.
Canada’s largest bank observed the fastest deterioration of home prices in decades. RBC economists crunched the numbers on housing affordability for Q2 2021. The bank found the share of income needed to carry ownership costs on the purchase of a home has surged. Even with negative mortgage rates (or because of?), affordably made the biggest […]
Dust off the disco ball and rolled up dollar bills, because the 1970s are back. At least the signs of 70s-style stagflation are forming, according to one of Canada’s Big Six banks. National Bank of Canada (NBC) chief economist Stéfane Marion warned clients of the rising risk of global stagflation. Rising oil prices, soaring food […]
Young Canadians aren’t interested in joining the trades, and it’s a big problem. RBC Economics took a look at skilled workers, and the anticipated shortage. The labor shortage isn’t just due to a large demographic cliff though. Not enough young adults are attracted to the field, nor are new immigrants. This squeeze can result in […]
Canadian building investment is falling, and it’s due to a lack of housing investment. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows total building investment fell in July. Taking a dive into the data, we can see this is due entirely to falling residential investment. While it dropped, no need to worry about an inventory squeeze. The […]
Time for your sheet on this week’s top stories. Canadian Real Estate Canadian Real Estate Is Now A Bubble On Top Of A Bubble: US Federal Reserve Exuberant Canadian home buyers have pushed real estate into a bubble — again. The US Federal Reserve’s Exuberance Index shows Canada completed 5 exuberant quarters. This is enough […]
Canadian household indicators are showing their debt problems are rapidly resurfacing. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows the ratio of household debt to disposable income surged in Q2 2021. This measure indicates debt is growing faster than the rate of income. Debt as a ratio of income has actually never seen such fast annual growth […]
