Blog

  • Steady housing market in 2015, some moderation in 2016 – CTV News

    I find the title slightly misleading, but the article on CTV News talks about a steady new housing market in 2015 and a slightly decreased one in 2016. Some of those expected causes include: a slowdown in the pace of construction, the shrinking poll of young, first-time buyers due to slower population growth, rising housing…

  • Why Canada lags Australia in tracking the housing market – Globe and Mail

    There is a recent article in the Globe and Mail that discusses the ability of the Australian government to track their housing market statistics better than Canada’s government. From the article:

  • The US housing market recovery – what it means to you

    I came across an article on the Mortgage Broker News website today briefly covering the US housing market conditions. “Sales of new single-family homes in the US surged by 18.0 per cent to 504,000 annualized units in August 2014 to mark the highest level since May 2008,” a report from RBC Economics, published Wednesday, states.…

  • Can taxing absentee owners fix Vancouver’s housing shortage? – Georgia Straight

    In my article yesterday, I had alluded to a story on the news about up to 25% of downtown Vancouver condo units being vacant. On the Georgia Straight website, there is an article also about this, and about a mayoral candidate that is campaigning to have vacant condos subject to a higher property tax. The…

  • CMHC considering passing on mortgage risk to banks – Financial Post

    There is an article on the Financial Post website today which quotes the CEO of CMHC saying that CMHC are evaluating restructuring the mortgage insurance risk exposure which could include the sharing of risk with mortgage lending institutions.

  • TD CEO Urges Tighter Mortgage Lending Rules – Huffington Post

    On the Huffington Post website today is an article about the CEO of TD recommending tighter mortgage lending rules be implemented to discourage what he perceives to be high household debt to income ratios. Household debt to income soared to a record of 164.1 per cent in the third quarter of last year, but fell…