Introducing CMI’s Housing Affordability Watch
CMI monitors the latest developments and offers insights on solutions to Canada’s housing affordability crisis Housing affordability has taken center stage in policy debates. Over the past 20 years, governments have allocated significant resources to first-time home buyers under the façade that it will make housing more affordable. The beneficiaries of these programs are no…
Read moreBeware the Bond Market – Part 2
Financial markets often provide valuable insights into the future trajectory of the economy, as they reflect the collective wisdom of numerous investors who invest based on their economic forecasts. One commonly observed indicator in this context is the yield curve. The treasury yield curve is a visual representation of the cost associated with the federal…
Read moreBeware the Bond Market – Part 1
In the 1990s, Democratic political adviser James Carville said: “I used to think that if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or as a .400 baseball hitter. But now I would like to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everybody.” Not that long ago…
Read moreLabour Market Strength Raises Uncertainty on Rate Hikes
Friday’s unexpectedly strong US payroll numbers raise uncertainty about whether the Fed will need to raise short-term rates one more time in either November or December. Non-farm payrolls increased by 336,000, surpassing the consensus estimate of 170,000, and the numbers for July and August were adjusted upwards by 119,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held steady…
Read moreIs the Economic Slowdown Enough to Keep the Bank of Canada on the Sidelines?
An eye on rates on other market updates During his time as Federal Reserve Chair, Alan Greenspan was known for his decisive use of monetary policy to rescue markets in times of turmoil. Dubbed the Greenspan Put, his policy approach was designed to halt excessive stock market declines and stabilize financial markets. While this approach…
Read moreFixing Past Housing Policy Choices: Looking Back to Move Forward
While a shortage of rental housing has contributed to the current housing crisis, the problem is not a new one. After booming in the 1960s, construction of purpose-built rental housing stagnated following the rollback of federal tax incentives in the 1970s, as rental housing became less lucrative for developers. Since then, tax rules affecting rental…
Read moreRestoring Housing Affordability
Can we build 5 million homes in 7 years? In its latest report, Canada’s Housing Supply Shortages, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) maintained its 2022 projection that Canada needs nearly 3.5 million additional housing units – on top of the 1.66 million units already planned – to close the housing affordability gap by…
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