The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady at 1% and signalled a cautious approach to future rate rises. The bank is forecasting a continued rise in inflation, reaching 2% in the second half of 2018 and for the economy to grow at above-potential with 3.1% for this year, 2.1% for 2018 and 1.5% in […]

It has been said that there are two certainties in life; death and taxes. Well, as it relates to your mortgage, the single certainty is that you will pay back what you borrowed, plus interest. However, how you make your mortgage payments, the payment frequency, is somewhat up to you! The following is a look […]

By now the media, along with multiple mortgage brokers’ social media feeds, have likely let you know that more changes to your ability to get a mortgage are arriving soon. But so what? Should you care? SHORT VERSION; Probably Not. LONG VERSION; The five ’W’’s follow to help answer the above questions and more; Who […]

Vancouver West Side is the priciest neighbourhood in Canada on a price-per-square-foot basis, and the city dominates the top 10. A nationwide study by Century 21 reveals that Vancouver West Side has a PPSF of $1,201 with the city’s Downtown second at $962.75 and Toronto Downtown taking third place at $818.86. Metro Vancouver is home […]

Although home prices in Toronto and Vancouver seem to have stabilized recently, they are still at historical levels. The average home price in these two major Canadian cities are still well over $1 Million. Unsurprisingly, first-time homebuyers are finding it increasingly difficult to get onto the “property ladder”. It is now harder than ever for […]

When the new tighter restrictions on mortgage lending come into effect in just over two months they could spark a new trend – longer amortizations. With OSFI’s stress test requiring borrowers of uninsured mortgages to prove they can afford payments 2% above their contract rate, fewer people will qualify. However, switching to a longer amortization […]

This week, OSFI (Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions) announced that effective January 1, 2018 the new Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures (Guidelines B-20) will be applied to all Federally Regulated Lenders. Note that this currently does not apply to Provincially Regulated Lenders (Credit Unions) but it is possible they will abide by […]

Why, why, why it is so challenging for entrepreneurs to obtain a mortgage in Canada? If you’re among the 2.7 million Canadians who are self-employed, regrettably your income is not as easy to document as someone who’s traditionally employed. Since 2008, mortgage regulations in Canada have made it more challenging for those who work for […]

The process of getting a development permit in the City of Vancouver has improved over the past year and is expected to continue to do so. The city’s mayor says that efforts to speed up processing times for new permits have proved successful even as the City deals with a record level of development. Single-story […]

There was a slight increase in home sales in September compared to August but most markets were down from a year ago. Figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association show a 2.1% rise in sales through the MLS system month-over-month but sales were lower than September 2016 in three quarters of local markets. Activity was […]