Subprime lending market in Canada skyrockets to record as banks tighten reins

Subprime lenders’ share of the Canadian mortgage market has reached record levels, according to data obtained by the Financial Post, putting increased risk on the housing market. Alternative lenders, who are major beneficiaries of that subprime market, now underwrite 2.2% of all mortgage loans — probably not enough to cause any major structural damage to […]

Houses might not be as overvalued as the Bank of Canada thinks, Moody’s report suggests

A new report from Moody’s Analytics suggests the Canadian housing market has seen some “structural changes” that might justify today’s prices. “One possibility is that two decades of lower and more stable mortgage rates, together with regulatory safeguards, have raised the risk-adjusted return on housing investments,” said Mark Hopkins, author of the Moody’s report. “This […]

Canadian home prices fall for first time in a year: Teranet

TORONTO — Canadian home prices fell in November from a month earlier, their first monthly decline in a year, the Teranet-National Bank Composite House Price Index showed on Friday. The index, which measures price changes for repeat sales of single-family homes, showed national home prices fell 0.3 per cent last month. Prices were still up […]

CMHC to hike issuer fees and mortgage rates could follow

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is tripling the fee it charges some financial institutions to guarantee loans in the mortgage-backed securities market, a move that could end up costing consumers more, the Financial Post has learned. The move appears to be aimed at the government’s stated goal of reducing its role in the mortgage insurance […]

Canada among the world’s hottest property markets

Housing prices continue to grow at a red-hot pace in many parts of the world. The Global Property Guide has compiled and analyzed the property price performance of the world’s big economies. We’ve put together a list of the top 16 markets based on year-over-year, inflation-adjusted price performance as of Q3. The chart accompanying each […]

Vancouver new home prices see biggest jump in 4 years

OTTAWA — New housing prices in Canada rose 0.1 per cent in October from September, the third consecutive month-on-month increase, on strength in the Vancouver metropolitan area, Statistics Canada said on Thursday. The result matched analysts’ expectations. Prices in the Vancouver area grew by 0.4 per cent, the largest jump since an identical increase in […]

Slumping oil prices to hit home prices in Calgary in 2015: Re/Max

TORONTO — Slumping oil prices are likely to impact Calgary’s real estate market in the coming year, causing home prices to slow their rapid acceleration in Alberta’s largest city, according to a report by realtor group Re/Max. The average sale price of a Calgary home is expected to rise by only three per cent in […]

How to play oil prices from a real estate perspective

Publicly traded Canadian real estate companies should remain unaffected in the short term by lower oil prices, according to a new report from RBC Capital Markets analyst Neil Downey. “Real estate is a lagging sector and it will take a protracted period of lower energy prices before impacting underlying real estate fundamentals,” Mr. Downey writes, […]

Canada’s housing starts jump most in 7 months

Canadian housing starts rose the fastest in seven months in November on gains in multiple-unit work, government figures showed. The pace of work on new homes rose 6.5 per cent to 195,620 units at a seasonally adjusted annual pace in November, Ottawa-based Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. said Monday. Multiple-unit starts in urban areas rose […]

Record household debt triggers warnings over ‘insatiable’ borrowing

t Here’s something to keep in mind as you head out to shop this weekend: There are fresh signs and warnings about the “insatiable appetite” for consumer debt. The Bank of Canada has amped up its concerns, warning Wednesday that, while the economy is improving, “household imbalances, meanwhile, present a significant risk to financial stability.” […]

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