Three months ago, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told banks to step up and firm up their lending requirements. When that didn’t work, he took matters into his own hands, releasing a laundry list of mortgage rules last week. The roughly eight major rules released by the DoF and the OSFI last week will likely influence the Canadian real estate market … Read More
Were Flaherty’s Changes Too Late?
The fourth round of changes to Canada’s mortgage rules were designed to clamp down on an overheated housing market. Now, a week later, analysts are wondering if Finance Minister Jim Flaherty jumped the gun. Detractors are pointing to a real estate market that was already beginning to decline, both in terms of sales and price. Tightening mortgage rules during a … Read More
Bank of Canada Keeps Overnight Rate Locked
The Bank of Canada announced that it would maintain its overnight rate of 1 percent this morning, thanks to disproportionate growth in the Canadian economy. According to the official release from the Bank, economic growth in Canada was slightly slower than expected in the first quarter of 2012. Even so, the underlying economic momentum appears largely consistent with projected expectations. … Read More
Retirement and Risky Real Estate
It’s hard to think about decreasing property values when listing prices are through the roof, but failure to understand and plan for the inevitable “bubble” burst could leave you high and dry, especially if you’re rounding the bend on retirement. According to Ben Rabidoux, a correspondent for the Globe and Mail, the next decade will likely be one of the … Read More
Taking a Closer Look at CMHC’s 2011 Annual Report
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation marked its 65th anniversary last week with the release of their 2011 annual report. As the nation’s top mortgage insurer (the organization backs $567 billion in default mortgage insurance), the CMHC controls roughly three-quarters of the nation’s mortgage default insurance. Despite inching ever closer to the $600 billion dollar government-imposed limit, the CMHC’s reported … Read More