National Mortgage Related News Archive

• Mortgage debt 'stretching households thin'
  May 24, 2012 — At the end of 2011, Canadian mortgage lending amounted to $1.1-trillion, or more than double what it was a decade earlier. Add in home equity lines of credit and outstanding mortgage related debt was about $1.3-trillion.
  Source: Barry Critchley, Financial Post
  
• Sellers free to set asking prices low
  May 24, 2012 — If there's one thing potential buyers seem to resent in the hectic Toronto real estate market, it's sellers who draw people to their property with an asking price that has no relationship to the amount that they would actually accept for the place.
  Source: Caroline Ireland, The Globe and Mail
  
• Calgary housing starts soar from last year
  May 23, 2012 — The Calgary census metropolitan area has recorded one of the biggest year over year increases in housing starts across the country, according to the Conference Board of Canada. In a report of 27 metropolitan areas released Monday, the board said the Calgary region's seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts in April was 20,426, up from 6,667 in April 2011.
  Source: Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
  
• Scotiabank to sell its Toronto headquarters
  May 23, 2012 — Scotiabank has signed a deal to sell its landmark red skyscraper in downtown Toronto to a pair of real estate investment trusts for $1.27 billion. The bank said Tuesday that Dundee REIT and H&R REIT have agreed to buy the building where it will become the chief tenant.
  Source: The Canadian Press, The Chronicle Herald
  
• Canucks grapple with climbing U.S. home prices
  May 23, 2012 — Canadian investors are finding fewer of the U.S. real estate bargains they scooped up in the past year as foreclosure numbers sink, in the process elevating seller expectation.
  Source: Kit Kadlec, Canadian Real Estate Wealth
  
• Is it ever a bad time to invest in a rental property?
  May 22, 2012 — Record low interest rates coupled with an overly extended bull market for Canadian residential real estate has some investors questioning the validity of investing in a rental property.
  Source: Fabio Campanella, The Financial Post
  
• Canada urged to hike interest rates
  May 22, 2012 — Canada's central bank should move its benchmark target for the overnight rate above its current one per cent level or risk unsustainable increases in the country's inflation rate and real estate market, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said today.
  Source: News Staff, CBC
  
• Canadian rate hikes: The threat increases
  May 22, 2012 — If the threat of an interest rate increase is all that the Bank of Canada has in its monetary policy arsenal right now, at least that threat is being ratcheted up, thanks to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
  Source: David Berman, The Globe and Mail
  
• Brokers warn about new refinancing rules
  May 21, 2012 — Canada's mortgage brokers are warning the banking regulator that its proposed mortgage underwriting rules could result in people losing their homes.
  Source: Tara Perkins, The Globe and Mail
  
• Mortgage risk biggest threat to Canadian banks
  May 21, 2012 — Of the big six Canadian banks, the Royal Bank of Canada and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce are exposed to the most mortgage risk, according to a Fitch Ratings report published Monday.
  Source: Julia Johnson, Financial Post, Canada.com
  
• Don't count on your home to fund your retirement
  May 18, 2012 — One thing I often say to clients and readers of my website is that the next decade for real estate prices in Canada will look nothing like the past. There are three main reasons for this:
  Source: Ben Rabidoux, The Globe and Mail
  
• Calgary house prices flirting with record level
  May 18, 2012 — There's still about two weeks left this month but so far the average MLS sale price of a single-family home in Calgary is threatening to break the all-time record.
  Source: News Staff, Calgary Herald
  
• Bubble talk just hot air, condo guru says
  May 18, 2012 — Condo marketing guru Bob Rennie has a simple response to talk that Metro Vancouver's real estate market is headed for a hard landing because of sky-high prices.
  Source: Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
  
• Demand for Calgary retail space outstrips supply
  May 18, 2012 — Demand for new retail space in Calgary continues to outpace new supply, says a new report by Colliers International. The report, by the commercial real estate firm in Calgary, said developers have responded to the interest level in Calgary with an "unprecedented" number of projects and total square footage. There are 31 projects comprising just over 11.1 million square feet spread throughout the city in the planning, permitting or construction stage.
  Source: Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
  
• Finding the right agent
  May 18, 2012 — Every country has its own rules and regulations regarding buying and selling property. Canada is no different. In fact, the buying and selling process is more complicated because each province has its own rules and regulations. No matter where you live, there are two commandments that ought to guide new-home buyers.
  Source: Bob Weinstein, The Chronicle Herald
  
• Inflation data for April stir rate talk in Canada
  May 18, 2012 — Inflation in Canada was slightly higher than expected in April, pushed up in part by gasoline prices, providing the Bank of Canada with more reason to launch the interest-rate hike it has hinted at recently.
  Source: Randall Palmer, Reuters, The Gazette
  
• Hot housing market, what's fair - and what's foul?
  May 17, 2012 — If there's one thing that potential house buyers seem to agree on, it's that if a homeowner lists their house for sale at a given price, and someone is willing to pay that amount or more, the seller had better get out a pen and sign the deal.
  Source: Carolyn Ireland, The Globe and Mail
  
• What is mortgage flexibility worth?
  May 17, 2012 — In the car world it's rare to find BMW performance at a Kia price. The mortgage world isn't that different. Mortgages with the most capabilities typically cost more. Fortunately, most folks don't need a souped-up mortgage. They just need the right combination of options at a low rate.
  Source: Robert McLister, The Globe and Mail
  
• Half of Canadians plan to retire with mortgage
  May 17, 2012 — The one thing Canadians won't be retiring anytime soon is their mortgage debt, according to a new survey. Bank of Montreal says 51% of Canadian homeowners plan to carry their mortgage into their retirement years.
  Source: Garry Marr, The Financial Post
  
• Market cooling, but 'palatial' homes still strong
  May 16, 2012 — Canada's real estate market may be cooling, but a new report says high-end homes are still going strong. Re/Max said today its Upper-End Report (which has something of a ring to it 0 found continuing demand for luxury abodes in the first quarter of the year.
  Source: Michael Babad, The Globe and Mail
  
• Buyers increasingly view cottages as cash cows
  May 16, 2012 — "Many Canadians aspire to own a recreational property because of the lifestyle benefit it provides," said Phil Soper, president of Royal LePage, which commissioned the survey. "But potential buyers must understand how they plan to finance their purchase to ensure they can afford it."
  Source: Vernon Clement Jones, Canadian Real Estate Wealth
  
• Average Canadian home price edges higher
  May 15, 2012 — The average price of a home in Canada is now $375,810, slightly higher than year-ago levels. But behind the aggregate numbers are wide variations in what's happening with housing.
  Source: Tavia Grant, The Globe and Mail
  
• April home sales rise 11.5% from year ago
  May 15, 2012 — The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in April was up 11.5 per cent compared to the same month last year, when tighter mortgage rules restrained buyers.
  Source: The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail
  
• Canadian banks not immune to housing bubble
  May 15, 2012 — Canada's banks, ranked the soundest on the planet by the World Economic Forum, aren't immune to collapses triggered by falling housing prices, according to the government official implementing new mortgage rules.
  Source: Andrew Mayeda, Bloomberg, The Financial Post
  
• Toronto office market poised for new boom
  May 15, 2012 — Toronto's downtown office market appears poised to explode again with construction, as the commercial real estate industry waits for that one spark to kick-start the office sector.
  Source: Garry Marr, Financial Post, The Vancouver Sun
  
• Real estate investments head south
  May 15, 2012 — At a recent U.S. home-buying session at Allan Gardens in Toronto, hundreds of prospective buyers attended - so many they had to add chairs to accommodate the overflow. And though you might expect the crowd to be filled with soon-to-be retirees, there were a significant number of young people hoping to profit from bargain-basement properties south of the border.
  Source: Shelley White, The Globe and Mail
  
• CMHC mortgage insurance may be reduced
  May 14, 2012 — For months, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said he expects CMHC to remain within its $600-billion limit for insurance outstanding. Since it's already nearing that cap, this greatly constrains underwriting activities. In April, Flaherty placed CMHC under the supervision of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. Then came a bombshell: he hinted CMHC might one day be forced to exit underwriting altogether.
  Source: Matthew McClearn, Canadian Business
  
• 'Substantial minority' will struggle if rates rise
  May 14, 2012 — Are Canadian households in decent enough financial shape to absorb the shock of higher interest rates? Recent trends indicate a growing portion of households are beginning to hunker down.
  Source: Bertrand Marotte, The Globe and Mail
  
• Women more likely to be first-time homebuyers
  May 14, 2012 — "We are seeing more single women entering into the housing market, as income levels, changing demographics and lifestyle patterns shift purchasing habits," said Marcia Moffat, head of home equity financing, RBC. "But women are being more cautious than men, weighing cost, affordability and job security before buying a home."
  Source: Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald
  
• Luxury condo glut about to flood housing market
  May 14, 2012 — TORONTO - Five months after buying one of Toronto's new luxury hotel condominiums, Oliver Baumeister is girding for a glut of suites like his to hit the market as the biggest names in the hotel business open hundreds of units in Canada's largest city.
  Source: Andrea Hopkins, The Financial Post