Is Canada’s housing market finally starting to cool?

The Globe and Mail Fewer housing sales and more listings may bring some long-awaited balance to the Canadian housing market, says the latest report from the Canadian Real Estate Association. While home prices are still on the up, a drop in sales activity in June points to a possible chill in Canada’s housing market. Robert Hogue, a […]

Housing starts rose in June: CMHC

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the pace of housing starts rose in June, driven by urban multiple starts — condos, apartments and the like. The federal agency estimates there were 20,327 actual starts in June across the country, up from 18,494 in June 2011. Tweaked to remove monthly variations, that produced a […]

New Mortgage Rules Kick In

Effective today, mortgage shoppers with less than 20% equity are subject to thenew mortgage rules announced recently by the government. These regulations will cut buying power and refinance ability for a minority of Canadians. If these changes shut you out of the market, and if renting is not appealing, you don’t have a ton of options. One […]

15 Years to Go

That’s the average time remaining before the typical mortgage holder will be free and clear, according to a BMO survey released today. In addition, only 12% of Canadians have greater than 25 years left until their mortgage is repaid. (Not surprisingly, a disproportionate number live in B.C. where prices are 38% above the national average.) […]

Canadians Deserve More Answers

Boris Bozic, CAAMP Chair and President/CEO of Merix Financial wrotethis about the latest mortgage rule changes: “…Stakeholders have every right to call out decision makers if there’s concerns that [mortgage rule changes] may have unintended consequences. We also have every right to ask decision makers to articulate, in a clear and cogent fashion, the rationale behind the decisions they made.” […]

Ottawa tightening mortgage rules; no more 30-year amortizations

The federal government is moving again to tighten the rules on mortgage lending in Canada amid growing concerns that the housing market is overhere The country’s biggest banks were caught off guard on Wednesday night as the Department of Finance prepared to clamp down on mortgages by reducing the maximum amortization for a government-insured mortgage […]

Interest rates to remain low into 2014: CIBC

The CIBC says Canadians may enjoy historically low interest rates into 2014. The bank released its new outlook for the global and Canadian economies, and all indicators point to weakening conditions and rising risks. It says Canada’s economy will barely keep its head above water with growth rates of 2.1 per cent this year and […]

Simulating Economic Hazards

Rising indebtedness has elevated concerns about the ability of borrowers to cope with economic stress. The Bank of Canada (BoC) weighed in on this topic last week. In its semi-annual Financial System Review, the BoC performed a variety of simulations to estimate how job losses and rate hikes might prevent some people from paying their mortgage. Here are some […]

Cottage sales booming as buyers seek out lakeside bargains

Susan Pigg | Mon Jun 18 2012 The call of the loon — as well as lots of choice and a few bargains — is drawing Canadians back to the lake in numbers not seen since 2008, according to a report on the cottage market released Monday by Re/Max. Sales are up in 70 per cent of Canadian […]

Banking watchdog backs off its get-tough approach to mortgage lending

By Susan Pigg Business Reporter Ottawa’s banking watchdog has backed down on one of its toughest proposals for reining in household debt — making sure that Canadians’ credit risk is evaluated every time they renew their mortgages. In an unusual “interim update” of tighter lending guidelines it hopes to issue this summer, the Office of the Superintendent […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »