Tracking foreign buyers in Canada’s housing boom: Can we do it? Should we even care?

A third of people buying homes in Canada may be foreigners, says one real estate company. A leading economist says the number isn’t even 5%. The country’s housing agency says it has no idea what the actual number is. CMHC leaves out question of foreign condo investors, but economist says it’s only 5% A survey […]

China’s shadow banking system could bring down the world’s hottest property markets – Consult with a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Chinese investors are major players in the international real estate markets. The country’s outbound property investment totaled US$2.1 billion in Q1 2014, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. And now there are concerns about the quality of the loans that have fed into international property markets. “Will China’s capital flight fuel property bubbles overseas or cause […]

With Vancouver prices up, a call for curbs – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Along with a jump in house sales, house prices in Vancouver have risen sharply and will likely continue to climb in the new year, pushing some frustrated house hunters to call for curbs on the foreign buyers they blame for stoking the rapid ramping up of housing values. B.C.’s real estate market powered through third-quarter […]

Bank of Canada will raise overnight interest rate in July 2014: BMO economist

By: Alexandra Posadzki The Canadian Press, Published on Wed Jun 19 2013 The Bank of Canada is likely to start raising its benchmark interest rate in July 2014, a full year before the U.S. Federal Reserve, BMO’s chief economist Douglas Porter said Wednesday. Porter predicts the overnight rate will go up by half a percentage point, which could […]

Bank of Canada signals no rate hikes anytime soon – Consult with a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

OTTAWA — While the Bank of Canada acknowledges the economic outlook here and elsewhere “is slightly weaker” than thought, policymakers are also offering up some hope for the near future. In a nutshell, Canada’s economy is growing at a slower pace than expected — although a pickup is likely later this year —and inflation remains […]

Canadians have cause for economic optimism – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Jim Flaherty’s forecast Tuesday of a weaker global economy, a bigger 2012 deficit than previously anticipated and a delay in the balancing of Ottawa books is likely to trigger the kind of headlines that get folks wringing their hands. Canada’s 1.4 million unemployed workers will fear an even longer wait for a decent job. A […]