“The really interesting thing about this report is the insight it provides into foreign ownership of condominiums in Canada by age of structure. For example, in the downtown core of Toronto, we know that, in buildings completed since 2010, about 10 per cent of those units are owned by foreign buyers,” Bob Dugan, chief economist, […]

There was no shock decision today as the Federal Reserve made its interest rate announcement. During its March release, the Fed announced that it would maintain its benchmark interest rate in the range of 0.25-0.5 per cent. It had moved rates to this level back in December – the first increase for close to a […]

 The Central bank has released its latest rate decision. The Bank of Canada said Wednesday it will maintain its target for the overnight rate at ½%. “The global economy is progressing largely as the Bank anticipated in its January Monetary Policy Report. Financial market volatility, reflecting heightened concerns about economic momentum, appears to be abating,” […]

CMHC tells MortgageBrokerNews.ca what it plans to do once it collects additional foreign ownership data. Many have applauded the Crown Corporation’s initiative to collect more comprehensive data on offshore buyers of real estate, which would help determine just how much influence they have on the market, but many have questioned what it plans to do […]

Today’s stronger than expected fourth quarter GDP figure of 0.8% annualized growth did little to assuage concerns that the Canadian economy is growing well below potential. Many expected growth to be flat in the final quarter of last year. The growth figure released today by Statistics Canada was boosted by the biggest drop in imports in […]

In the wake of Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s economic update on Monday (February 22), economists remained upbeat of Canada’s prospects in the long run, despite a projected $18.4-billion shortfall this year (and another $15.5 billion next year) that has grown even before the implementation of the government’s spending plans. “Even with such deficits, the debt-to-GDP ratio should […]

The federal finance minister will report on the state of Canada’s economy Monday, an unusual step with the budget not far away. Bill Morneau will explain how much the economy has changed since the government set out its fiscal plans in November; oil prices have fallen further, global growth has slowed, the US dollar has […]

The Bank of Canada said Monday that a reliance on monetary policy to stimulate the economy may not be the best way forward. Deputy governor Timothy Lane was speaking at a conference in Montreal and warned that using instruments such as lowering interest rates could lead to a less stable economy with increasing consumer debt. Mr Lane […]

A leading economist believes last year’s prosperous market won’t carry on through 2016. “I think mortgage brokers should recognize the mortgage market will slow; there is no way we’ll see a repeat of 2015 performance in Toronto and Vancouver,” Dr. Sherry Cooper, chief economist with Dominion Lending Centres, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “The government is certainly doing […]

In an evenly divided call by market analysts, the Bank of Canada maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1/2 percent. The Bank said that inflation prospects are largely as expected and that “the dynamics of the global economy are broadly as anticipated in the Bank’s October Monetary Policy Report (MPR).” Really?  Oil prices have plummeted to […]