Drawing Conclusions: Is renting a home always a waste of money?

If you’re ready to put down housing roots and buy a home you can afford, owning has financially speaking worked out well for most Canadians. But despite what your parents may tell you, renting doesn’t always mean you’re just “throwing money away.” If you’re disciplined with your finances, then renting can be a perfectly good […]

Calgary homeowners and buyers left wondering what’s next as once-sizzling housing market succumbs to chills

Calgary’s housing market is the hot topic of conversation these days not only in the city but across the country. Mortgage firms tighten lending standards in Calgary as housing boom turns sour The oil that fuelled Calgary’s housing boom has created the conditions for a bust. Genworth MI Canada Inc., the country’s largest non-government mortgage […]

Mortgage risks lingering in the shadows from non-regulated lenders, says CIBC

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada has made much of the threats to heavily indebted consumers, and the need not to get in over their heads even further — this despite yet more cuts in mortgage rates by commercial banks, fostered by the central bank itself in a weak economic-growth environment. Similar warnings have come […]

Canadian home sales drop 3.1% as ‘sense of panic’ sweeps western markets

TORONTO — Sales of existing homes in Canada slipped further in January as the drop in oil prices hurt homebuyer demand in western Canada, the Canadian Real Estate Association said on Tuesday, with one analyst saying seller panic has set in. Canada’s oil capitals look set for their first major housing correction since 2008 TD […]

Canada’s oil capitals are headed for their first major housing correction since 2008, TD warns

Home prices in Canada’s oil capitals will suffer a correction this year as plunging oil prices turn the nation’s housing market upside-down, say TD economists. Prices are on track to fall as much as 10% in Calgary, Edmonton and St. John’s Newfoundland over 2015 and into 2016 as the collapsing oil industry hits growth, incomes […]

Toronto leads gains in new home prices, while Calgary market declines

Canadian new home prices rose 0.1% in December from the previous month, led by gains in the nation’s largest city, government figures showed. Toronto prices rose 0.2% from November, and by 2.5% for all of last year, Statistics Canada said Thursday from Ottawa. Prices rose 1.7% nationally from the same month a year earlier. New […]

Alberta home resales to slide 16%, RBC says

Sales of existing homes will slide 16% in Alberta this year as a plunge in oil drags down the provincial economy, according to Royal Bank of Canada. Oil prices are making housing forecasts a tough call in Alberta Plunging oil prices have made it almost too difficult to predict what will happen in the Calgary […]

Why more Canadians are turning to non-traditional lenders for mortgages

OTTAWA — Squeezed out by stricter bank regulations, a growing number of mortgage-hunting Canadians have been turning to non-traditional lenders to overcome borrowing hurdles like bad credit. The proportion of mortgages given out by alternative institutions, other than banks or credit unions, remains small at roughly 2.2% of the entire market, said a recent analysis […]

IMF says housing in Canada overvalued by as much as 20%

Canada’s housing market is overvalued by as much as 20%, says the International Monetary Fund which is forecasting a soft landing for the sector. Follow Financial Post On Facebook On Twitter The IMF opinion, released Friday, is for the country as a whole and it noted there are important regional differences when talking about overvaluation […]