Canada’s dollar and bank bonds declined after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the nation’s banks for the first time in more than four years, signaling that soaring household debt combined with runaway housing prices leave the lenders more vulnerable to losses. The ratings firm lowered the long-term debt and deposit ratings one level on Toronto-Dominion Bank, […]

OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada is holding its trend-setting interest rate at 0.5 per cent but it’s keeping a watchful eye on “significant uncertainties” that it warns could alter the economy’s improving trajectory. The central bank’s scheduled rate announcement Wednesday arrived as Canada tries to assess the direction of U.S. economic policy under President […]

Well, this may be the first time in recent memory a big bank economist has used the feared B-word in relation to real estate. Bubble. Get news stories like this straight to your inbox with our FREE newsletter “Let’s drop the pretence. The Toronto housing market—and the many cities surrounding it—are in a housing bubble,” […]

The industry has provided its recommendations to the government committee that is studying the Canadian real estate market and the issues facing it. The Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association sent a letter to the Standing Committee of Finance, advocating for changes that would lessen the burden on Canadians wanting to purchase homes. “It goes without saying […]

Recent changes to mortgage regulations have negatively impacted first-time buyers and there should be a pause on further measures, the CEO of Genworth said Monday. Stuart Levings was appearing as a witness at the Standing Committee of the Finance Department as part of its study of the Canadian Real Estate Market and Home Ownership. He said […]

Canada’s federal housing agency says strong evidence of problematic conditions continues to exist in the national housing market. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says the most prevalent issues it has observed in the 15 markets it monitors are overbuilding and overvaluation, which occurs when house prices outpace economic fundamentals such as income and population growth. […]

Bank of Canada holds interest rate, begins to bake some Trump risks into outlook. The Bank of Canada is holding its benchmark interest rate at 0.5 per cent and providing a deeper assessment of the risks associated with the big economic unknowns of a Trump presidency. The central bank is keeping its key interest rate […]

CMHC announced early Tuesday it is increasing its loan insurance premiums effective March 17. “We do not expect the higher premiums to have a significant impact on the ability of Canadians to buy a home,” said Steven Mennill, Senior Vice-President, Insurance. “Overall, the changes will preserve competition in the mortgage loan insurance industry and contribute to […]