Low Rates Helping Borrowers Pay Off Mortgages at Record Pace Home prices may be astronomical in certain parts of the country, but historically low mortgage rates are allowing borrowers to pay off their mortgages faster than ever. At today’s average rates, 61% of a new homebuyer’s very first mortgage payment is going towards principal repayment, […]

Housing Market Moderates in May, but Prices Forecast to Rise 19.3% this Year Home sales and prices continued to moderate in May, easing from March’s peak. But with ongoing tight supply and high demand, prices are expected to remain elevated through the year. That’s according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), which released its […]

The Slowdown In Canadian Housing Continued in May Today, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell 7.4% nationally from April to May 2021, building on the 11% decline in April. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties fell 6.4%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 1.0%, a marked deceleration from previous […]

Bank of Canada Holds Rates, Says High Inflation Will be Temporary The Bank of Canada’s Wednesday rate announcement was “steady as she goes,” as it maintained its Quantitative Easing program and reiterated that rates should stay where they are until the second half of next year. The overnight lending rate remains at 0.25%, where it’s […]

The Latest in Mortgage News: Have Home Prices Peaked? The seemingly endless run-up in home prices seems to have reached a peak, at least for now. May home sales data from some of the country’s real estate boards showed sales and prices still growing in some regions, but down for their second consecutive month in […]

Bank of Canada Holds Rates and QE Steady–Asserting That Both the Upside in Inflation and the Downside in GDP is Temporary The Bank of Canada left the benchmark overnight policy rate unchanged at 0.25% and maintained its current pace of GoC bond purchases at its current pace. The Governing Council renewed its pledge to refrain […]

More Seniors to Rely on Home Equity as Part of Retirement Planning Almost 8 in 10 Canadians over the age of 55 believe they can’t rely on registered savings and pension plans alone to support a comfortable retirement. Roughly half say that home equity is a vital part of retirement planning, yet many don’t want […]

Housing Drove the Economic Expansion in Q1 Yesterday’s Stats Canada release showed that the economy grew at a 5.6% annualized rate in the first quarter, after a revised 9.3% pace in the final quarter of last year.  That was somewhat below economists’ expectations. Housing investment grew at an annualized 43% pace, by far the biggest impetus of the […]

Insured and Uninsured Mortgage Stress Test Changes Confirmed for June 1 Starting June 1, both insured and uninsured mortgage borrowers will be subject to a stricter stress test when qualifying for their mortgage. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) confirmed on Thursday that it will move ahead with its stress test changes […]

Latest in Mortgage News: House Prices to Moderate This Year, Says CMHC Home prices are expected to finally level off from the “unsustainable” increases that have been seen over the past year, says the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). “Low mortgage rates, high savings rates and persistent, uneven impacts of the pandemic and low immigration […]