Broker fears were confirmed Tuesday, with one big bank raising its prime rate less than a month following new mortgage rules. TD Canada Trust announced in a note to brokers Tuesday that it is changing its mortgage rates, including increasing its mortgage prime rate to 2.85%. The prime rate has been held at 2.70% for […]

The new mortgage rules are certain to result in a slowdown in the Quebec housing market, the body representing the province’s real estate boards says. The Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) has significantly downgraded its market outlook for 2017 and says the short-to-medium-term impact of Ottawa’s rules are definite. “The impact on the […]

A hodgepodge of factors contributed to the current state of Canadian real estate, which has seen an increasing number of affordability refugees fleeing from the hottest markets. Bank of Nova Scotia vice president of economics Derek Holt stated that a combination of record-low interest rates and careless federal-level actions has led to unprecedented amounts of […]

One of Canada’s largest banks has opined on the impact the portfolio insurance changes will have on mortgage rates. Starting November 30, lenders will only be allowed to purchase portfolio insurance for loans that cost less than $1 million, are owner occupied, have an amortization period no longer than 25 years, among other stipulations. This could […]

The governor of the Bank of Canada spoke of the risk to the economy from the high level of household debts and the rising cost of homes when he announced a hold-steady on interest rates Wednesday. Stephen Poloz said that the bank came close to making a further cut in interest rates but decided that additional […]

It is no surprise to anyone that the Bank of Canada maintained its target overnight rate at 1/2 percent today, judging that the underlying trend in total CPI inflation will edge upward to 2 percent starting early next year. Temporary offsetting factors, such as the fall in commodity prices and the decline in the loonie […]

The finance minister of Canada’s priciest province for real estate expects new regulations will cool housing appreciation in Vancouver, where there’s already been a marked decline in sales and foreign investment. “We’ll see a slowdown in the rate at which the value of housing goes up; we may see a modest correction,” British Columbia Finance […]

The new rules will cool the markets in Toronto and Vancouver and improve credit quality, according to the agency. “Fitch believes that the new measures may temper the housing market, especially in cities that are significantly overvalued,” Fitch said in a report, released Wednesday. “According to a Fitch study published earlier this year, home prices […]

While economists are in agreement that federal-level steps such as Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s announcement of new mortgage measures last week are needed to address the affordability situation in the country’s hottest markets, the jury is still out on whether the current approach is too stringent or too timid. “[Last week’s announcement] is the sixth […]

The revisions to mortgage rules announced last week would have better served the Canadian housing sector by being implemented in small stages, not as a sudden regulatory upheaval. B.C. Real Estate Association chief economist Cameron Muir noted that the new measures introduced by Finance Minister Bill Morneau last week would—instead of cooling the markets as […]