The Slowdown In Canadian Housing Continued in July Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell 3.5% nationally from June to July 2021–the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties dropped 8.8%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 0.6% and was up 22.2% […]

Home Prices Mark Fourth Consecutive Monthly Decline From March Peak Real estate activity and home prices across Canada continue to retreat from their March peak, but record-low inventories are keeping many local markets “extremely unbalanced,” according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). The average home price in July was $661,788, up 15.6% year-over-year but […]

Industry Response to New Sept. 30 Holiday and How Some Closings Will be Affected Mortgage lenders, brokers and brokerages across the country are developing contingency plans for clients whose closings will be impacted by the new September 30 holiday. In May, federal lawmakers passed Bill C-5 to create the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, […]

Majority of Canadian Buyers Borrowing Their Maximum Approved Mortgage Soaring home prices over the past year have forced a majority of today’s homebuyers to use the maximum mortgage amounts they’ve been approved for. More than 65% of recent buyers bought the maximum amount of house they could afford, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing […]

The Latest in Mortgage News: Mortgage Debt Soars as Credit Card Debt Falls to 6-Year Low Canada’s hot housing market was behind a 41.2% annual increase in new mortgages as of the first quarter, Equifax Canada reported. The average mortgage amount also rose by 20.5% to $326,903. “Low interest rates and speculation around U.S. inflation […]

Canada’s Housing Market “Slowly Getting Back to Normal” Home prices are down for the third consecutive month since reaching a peaking in March, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. While the average national home price of $679,051 is still up nearly 26% compared to a year ago, it’s down 1.3% from May and has […]

The Slowdown In Canadian Housing Continued in June   Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell 8.4% nationally from May to June 2021, marking the third consecutive monthly decline. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties fell 0.7%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 0.9%, a marked deceleration from previous […]

Bank of Canada Tapers Bond-Buying Again. Bank of Canada ‘On the Vanguard’ of Unwinding Stimulus The Bank of Canada raised its inflation forecast in the newly released July Monetary Policy Report (MPR), making it one of the most hawkish central banks in the world. The Bank announced its third action to reduce its emergency bond-buying stimulus […]

Canada’s Jobs Recovery Resumed in June as Lockdown Began to Ease This morning, Statistics Canada released the June 2021 Labour Force Survey showing employment rose 230,700 (1.2%) in June, rebounding from a cumulative decline over the previous two months of 275,000. Total hours worked were little changed. The national unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 7.8%. Jobs […]

Homebuyers Shun CMHC’s First-Time Home Buyer Incentive The federal government’s First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) was meant to offer a path to homeownership for those unable to tap the “Bank of Mom and Dad” for down payment assistance. But first-time buyers have largely rejected the equity-sharing program that was first unveiled in September 2019, according to data […]