CMHC announces new rules to make it easier for homeowners to rent out property

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is going to make it easier for homeowners renting out apartments in their principal residences to borrow money, a move that could further heat up markets in Toronto and Vancouver. The Crown corporation, which controls a majority of the mortgage default insurance market in Canada, announced changes to its rules […]

How homebuyers win bidding wars without having the most cash

Flattery is a tried-and-true negotiating strategy, but homebuyers in hot markets are making a bizarre art form out of kissing up. Luxury home buyers in Vancouver flipping houses to other desperate buyers before ink even dries on sale contracts Gerry Kahrmann/Postmedia News Demand for luxury homes in Vancouver is so high that shoppers are willing […]

Toronto, Vancouver home prices could plunge 30%, says economist who predicted housing crash that never happened

David Madani, the economist known for his prediction of a 25 per cent correction in Canadian house prices, has a new forecast for the Toronto and Vancouver markets. The economist realtors love to hate: David Madani stands by 2011 prediction of Canadian housing ‘day of reckoning’ Peter J. Thompson/National Post David Madani is sticking to […]

Top 10 endangered heritage sites in Vancouver

Heritage Vancouver has released their annual list of top 10 endangered heritage buildings in the city, a selection of properties that offer a rare glimpse into Vancouver’s historic past. Vancouver is always growing, a with that comes many new developments and the demolition of old buildings not suited for our new economy. Between the cost […]

CMHC says Regina, Winnipeg are the riskiest housing markets in Canada

The country’s housing market is modestly overvalued, although the Crown corporation that is in charge of housing policy only sees high risk in two of the 12 markets it surveyed. There’s a hidden force in Canada’s housing market that Ottawa shouldn’t ignore The fastest growing demographic force in the country may be fuelling condo booms […]

How cracking down on temporary foreign workers could hurt home values

The complaints against Ottawa’s tightening up on permits for temporary foreign workers has so far come mostly from Western Canadian restaurateurs, business associations and politicians. But opposition could catch on a lot more widely if homeowners were aware that the federal government’s crackdown could drive down residential property values. That’s because part of the glue […]

things come in small packages for millennial buyers

This is the second in a series of stories looking at the challenges faced by different generations of people who are in the market for a home – from first-time buyers, to growing families, to boomers who are downsizing. A property investor recently walked into the marketing office for a Surrey, B.C., condo tower and […]

House hunting? Here’s what $1-million buys in Toronto these days

I love visiting open houses in expensive neighbourhoods. Touring rich people’s homes combines two of my favourite things: seeing how the other half lives and pretending to have buckets of money. To scratch my itch, I settled on the west-end Toronto neighbourhood of Roncesvalles, where houses routinely snag multiple offers and winning bids often exceed […]

Over 40% of first-time home buyers in Canada can’t afford a house without their parents’ help, report suggests

TORONTO — A Bank of Montreal report suggests first-time home buyers are increasingly turning to the “Bank of Mom and Dad.” Move over Stephen Poloz, here’s the real reason mortgage rates are so low in Canada Go figure — Canada’s overheated housing market is getting the biggest shot of juice from the efforts of a […]

Here’s what’s really scary about high-ratio mortgages in Canada

Canadians buying (overpriced) houses this spring with little money down, now face an additional burden with the recent announcement by CMHC – quickly followed by Genworth — that mortgage insurance will rise in price come June 1 of this year. Remember, this is the (bizarre) coverage that most homebuyers must pay for, which protects and […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »