Canada to skirt global turbulence, record healthy growth this year: RBC

OTTAWA — A new outlook from the Royal Bank predicts Canada’s economy will skirt the global economic turbulence and rebound strongly from a slow start to the year. The RBC’s new quarterly forecast anticipates the economy will rebound to 3.1% growth during this quarter, which ends in June, and record a 2.6% gross domestic product […]

Single ladies hooking up with homes

For an increasing number of women, there’s no better commitment than home ownership.Women may be putting off marriage, but they aren’t putting off what is usually a person’s single biggest purchase of their life. Gone are the days when a single woman would wait to find a significant other before laying down money on a […]

Renovation Spending at $20.9 Billion Across 10 Major Centres

OTTAWA, June 7, 2012 — An estimated 1.7 million households in 10 major centres undertook renovations in 2011 according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC’s) Renovation and Home Purchase Survey released today. This represents about 37 per cent of homeowner households, a slight decrease from 42 per cent, or 1.9 million households, in 2010. The estimated average cost of renovations undertaken in 2011 was $13,709, an […]

Is Canada in a bubble? Housing experts face off

Welcome to the Great Debate. Each month, Globe Investor will invite two experts to debate one of the big questions facing the business and investing world. This month, we look at whether Canada is experiencing a housing bubble. Today, our debaters present their opening arguments defending and opposing the motion: Canada is experiencing a housing bubble. […]

Visa Launches Video Game to Help Educate Youth on Balancing Savings with Prudent Spending to Reach Financial Goals

  Game launch coincides with sponsorship of financial literacy panel at International Economic Forum of the Americas Conference of Montreal, underscoring Visa‘s ongoing commitment to educating Canadians on financial literacy   (Toronto, ON) – June 12, 2012 – Today, Visa Canada is launching a dynamic educational video game called Money Metropolis that teaches youth the basics of […]

Banks go on appraisal alert in a volatile housing market

Several Canadian banks have been quietly re-evaluating their appraisal strategies amid increased worries about the accuracy of property values in a market deemed at risk of overheating. Lenders use a variety of techniques, including full appraisals, so-called “drive-by” appraisals based on the exterior of the home, and databases of market prices, to evaluate homes. The […]

Mortgages: Nail the right term length the first time

Canadian Mortgage Trends editor Robert McLister kicks off his first in a weekly series of columns for the month for The Globe’s Home Buying sitewith this look on the best – and worst – mortgages terms out there. Finding a good mortgage rate online is a cinch. Anyone who has ever looked for rate comparison sites knows […]

Consumers rein in debt burden, but housing ‘overshooting’: CIBC

Canadians consumers are reining in their debt burdens amid repeated warnings on household borrowing from Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and other policy makers. The growth of consumer debt has eased as of March, rising at the slowest pace since 2002, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce(CM-T70.03-0.63-0.89%) said Wednesday. “For the first time in more than a […]

Condos drive Canada’s housing start surge

Canada’s condo building frenzy showed no sign of abating last month, as housing starts surged to their highest level since 2007. While some analysts had predicted housing starts would weaken after a particularly strong March, starts in April rose to an annualized rate of 244,900, readily beating predictions of 204,000 made by most economists.   […]

Why we’ve locked in to a 10-year mortgage

Our new home in Scarborough is a detached, three-bedroom side-split that cost nearly $560,000.  We borrowed nearly $515,000 to buy it,  a sum  that makes me queasy. With the help of a mortgage broker, we chose a 30-year mortgage from ING Direct, and locked-in to a 10-year term at an interest rate of 3.99 per […]

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