As Canadians enjoyed the Labour Day holiday, a new government scheme was officially launched that aims to help more people get on the housing ladder. But the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive may not be the panacea for potential new entrants into Canada’s housing market that Justin Trudeau and his ministers hope. Critics say that it […]

The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive helps qualified first-time homebuyers reduce their monthly mortgage carrying costs without adding to their financial burdens. The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive launches September 2, 2019*. * The program will be ready to receive Incentive applications on September 2, 2019 (barring any unforeseen circumstances). The first closing will take effect on […]

There was a continued decline in mortgage originations in the second quarter of 2019. Originations fell 8.9% year-over-year with younger Canadians (18-25 years) showing a 13.4% drop according to the Q2 2019 Industry Insights Report from TransUnion Canada. Although the report acknowledges the multi-factor impacts on mortgage originations including home prices, interest rates, consumer sentiment, […]

A global ranking of luxury housing markets has highlighted the divergence of Canada’s two largest markets. Vancouver remains at the bottom of the table of 46 cities worldwide compiled using Knight Frank’s global research network while Toronto ranks 13th. The Prime Global Cities Index tracks the movement in prime residential prices of the 46 cities. […]

The British Columbia housing market showed improvement in July with residential sales up 12.4% year-over-year. The latest assessment of the market from the British Columbia Real Estate Association reveals 7,930 home sales through the MLS system in July. The average residential price in the province was $684,497, down 1.6% year-over-year but total sales dollar volume […]

The recent slowdown in Canada’s hottest housing markets is turning a corner and a potential new price boom is threatening to frustrate would-be buyers’ hopes. The real risk to Canada’s housing market today is not a crash, but a return to nosebleed levels of price growth thanks in part to falling interest rates, said Doug […]

A new report from CMHC looks at the state of the Canadian mortgage market and highlights some of the challenges that it faces. The inaugural Residential Mortgage Industry Report says that recent mortgage regulations, rising interest rates, and softening home sales were factors in a slowing mortgage market in 2018. It also reveals that the […]

Demand for offices in Toronto and Vancouver has squeezed the vacancy rates of both, making them the joint tightest markets in North America. CBRE Canada says that Vancouver’s office vacancy rate dropped to 2.6% in the second quarter of 2019, from 4.7% only a year ago. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate in Toronto held steady at […]

The Bank of Canada is unlikely to make any changes to interest rates when it meets in a week’s time and that is the right move according to a panel of economists. Twelve of the 14 economists thought a hold at 1.75% would be the correct strategy while 2 believe there should be a rate […]

SURREY, BC – Last month’s property sales in the Fraser Valley were 29.3 per cent below the 10-year sales average for June and were the second lowest total for the month since the year 2000. The number of new listings also decreased in June, coming in at 9.6 per cent below the 10-year average for […]