Amid a series of interest rate hikes implemented by the Bank of Canada over the last few months, some Canadian homeowners may be concerned about whether they’ll be able to keep up with their mortgage payments. Missed mortgage payments are not common in Canada, according to data compiled by the CMHC. In Q1 of 2022, the country’s mortgage…
The Bank of Canada reduces bond purchases, expects economic slack to be absorbed in the second half of 2022 The Bank of Canada (BoC) kept the overnight rate at 0.25% but continued to taper the quantitative easing (QE) program. The Bank reduced the pace of asset purchases from at least $3 billion per week to…
The interest rate is often a yo-yo game, so any kind of loan you take is going to be a gamble! That five-year mortgage you locked in at an interest rate of 3.19% seemed like a pretty good deal two years ago. But the fixed rate is now sitting at 1.99%, even less for a…
The Bank of Canada has announced that it will once again hold its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of 0.25% as expected, with no change to its April projection that the key rate is likely to begin rising in the second half of 2022. The Bank’s June rate announcement saw…
Last week, it was announced again that both insured and uninsured mortgage borrowers will be subject to a stricter stress test when qualifying for their mortgage. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) confirmed that it will move ahead with its stress test changes first announced last month, which will apply to uninsured mortgages…
Canada’s accumulated mortgage debt in 2020 was equivalent to a significant portion of its gross domestic product, according to the central bank. Figures from the Bank of Canada showed that outstanding mortgage credit increased by $111.12 billion in the 12 months ending January 2021, representing “more than 5% of GDP at the annual rate,” said real estate…
House prices around the country will continue going upwards this year, outpacing inflation after hitting record highs in 2020, according to a Reuters poll of property market analysts who said the risk of a COVID-19 resurgence derailing activity was low. Intermittent lockdown restrictions after a second wave of infections hit the country are threatening expectations…
The Bank of Canada has started the new year announcing that it has left its target overnight benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25%. As a result, the Bank Rate stays at 0.5% and the knock-on effect is that borrowing costs for Canadians will remain low for the foreseeable future. Prior to the announcement, there was…
The Bank of Canada is ending one of its emergency measures to stimulate the COVID-19 economy, leading to speculation that the era of record-low mortgage rates could be ending, too. What’s more likely, mortgage experts say, is that the central bank’s decision to stop buying Canada Mortgage Bonds on Oct. 26 will usher in a…
It’s no secret that the majority of 2020 has seen a seismic shift in how everything around the world operates. Most things have changed, and it feels like the pandemic has pushed a hidden reset button back at the end of March. The point of this blog, however, is to discuss matters within the real…
