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.   […]

No housing crash for Canada: BMO

Canada will likely avoid a crash or serious correction in its “somewhat pricey” housing market, with the possible exception of Vancouver, says a new paper from Bank of Montreal. The analysis by BMO economists suggests alarms about Canada’s housing market by international observers, from the International Monetary Fund to The Economist magazine, are exaggerated or […]

Low rates could spur mortgage rule changes

David Pett  Sep 8, 2011 With Canadian interest rates now on hold for some time to come, the government may move to tighten mortgage rules again to keep the already hot housing market from bubbling over, says the chief economist of Canada’s biggest bank. “As we go forward in an environment of lower rates for longer […]

Why buying U.S. real estate is still a gamble

The resurgence of the loonie and continued degradation of U.S. home prices are spurring more Canadians to invest in property south of the border. But while this might appear an opportune time to snatch up a retirement home or dream vacation property, experts warn that jumping into these major purchases without doing extensive research is […]