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Is It Time to Bring Back Multi-Unit Condominium Mortgage Insurance?
Condo units under construction are at an all-time high, yet, pre-sales in Toronto are running at a 27-year low. After years of steady price increases, investors are beginning to question whether this is a viable near-term market. A recent Globe and Mail article suggests that investors are fleeing the preconstruction market. Toronto real estate brokerage…
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Does Higher Unemployment Signal a 50 Basis Point Rate Cut?
November’s jobs report delivered mixed signals: while employment growth exceeded expectations, the unemployment rate rose sharply to 6.8 per cent. This surge reflects a significant influx of workers entering the labour market, boosting the participation rate to 65.1 per cent. These dynamics – a higher unemployment rate, a higher participation rate and slowing wage growth…
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Tax Policy Illusions
Many groups have been cast as villains in Canada’s housing affordability narrative—foreign buyers, speculators, investors, and owners of vacant properties have all been blamed for driving up prices. However, recent data from Statistics Canada suggests that when it comes to homeowners who “flipped” their properties, that narrative is full of holes. Statistics Canada analyzed properties…
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It’s Looking A Lot Like 25 Basis Points
The upcoming Bank of Canada policy meeting on December 11 has sparked debate: Will the Bank cut rates by 25 basis points or 50 basis points? Since our last interest rate update, the federal government has announced a stimulus package. This package initially had two parts: a short-term selective GST holiday and a set of…
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The Evolution of the Canadian Mortgage Market: A Brief History – Part 2
In the first installment of our series, we examined the shifting roles of key players and the legislative changes that positioned chartered banks to dominate the Canadian mortgage market. In this second and final installment, we delve deeper into the rise of banks and trusts as mortgage lenders, the emergence of the five-year mortgage as…
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Slow and Steady Housing Starts Won’t Solve the Housing Crisis
In June 2022, CMHC estimated that Canada needs to build 5.8 million housing units by 2030 to restore housing affordability. The current pace of construction is not anywhere near this level, and there are signs we could see a falloff in condominium construction. The industry has focused on delivering smaller units that met the needs…
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The Evolution of the Canadian Mortgage Market: A Brief History – Part 1
In the first installment of our two-part series, we explore the evolving roles of key market players and the legislative changes that paved the way for chartered banks to dominate the Canadian mortgage landscape. The evolution of the Canadian mortgage market is far more nuanced than the simplified portrayal presented in a recent speech by…
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