Think Toronto or Vancouver real estate is too expensive? Then consider more affordable places like Los Angeles, New York, or San Francisco. Oxford Economics released its North American Housing Affordability Index (HAI) for Q2 2021. The global forecasting firm found affordability has deteriorated across North America. Toronto and Vancouver real estate were in a league […]
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 […]
Canadian real estate prices will get post-election support, but risks are piling up. Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote to clients on the boom and risk of real estate. He sees policy enthusiasm and a lack of inventory boosting existing-home prices near-term. As prices continue to rise, he warns the risks […]
New Zealand property investors will see another tax advantage disappear soon. On Tuesday, the Government of New Zealand revealed they’ll limit mortgage interest deductions. The plan goes into effect October 1 and is hoping to lower the incentive to speculate with housing. This measure follows a series of actions to discourage speculators. The government says […]
Canadian politicians promise to “fix” housing affordability if elected this year. Just one problem — all of their plans will increase home prices, not make them more affordable. That’s the take from Finder‘s 15-person monetary policy panel. The Fintech regularly polls Canada’s top economists for their take on monetary policy. This time they asked for […]
Canadian tax authorities confirmed they knew about illicit foreign capital inflating real estate. They first found out over two decades ago, but only confirmed it to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) this week. A whistleblowing, retired auditor first told SCMP journalist Ian Young about the report in 2016. He waited half a decade for […]
Foreign speculators looking to buy a home in Canada might encounter a few hiccups in the next few years. The country is in the middle of a snap election, and housing is the hot topic — especially foreign ownership. Just this morning, the ruling Liberal Party announced they would ban non-resident buyers. This is the […]
Canada’s massive multi-billion dollar program to create affordable housing will only have a “limited” impact. That’s the take from the non-partisan Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), tasked with explaining the numbers behind policies, to lawmakers. They found the federal program is billed as a “$70+ billion plan,” but failed to find a significant impact. In fact, […]
A large Chinese city is mulling over a proposal to create a new type of anti-speculation system. Wuhan (never heard of it either) is currently taking feedback on a draft law to create a housing ticket system. If successful, all buyers would need approval from the Wuhan Housing Security and Management Bureau. The goal is […]
New Zealand’s central bank is considering tightening mortgage lending standards even further. In June the New Zealand Government gave the Reserve Bank the green light to tighten lending. This morning, they announced they’ll consider a series of new measures in October. The big changes they’ll consider are further limits to high loan-to-value ratio (LVR) borrowing, […]
