February 16, 2010 Housing markets in the United States and Canada are similar in many respects, but each has fared quite differently since the onset of the financial crisis.Unlike the U.S., Canada has not experienced a dramatic increase in mortgage defaults, nor has any Canadian bank required a government bailout. As a result, observers such […]

By David Olive Business Columnist Toronto Star Frenzied developers with access to cheap money are creating a glut of premium office space and luxury apartments, priced at about 80 times the average income of the city’s residents. Prospective middle-class homeowners, in panic-buying mode, are snapping up two properties at once, hoping to flip the second […]

Paul Vieira, Financial Post  OTTAWA — Canada will officially oppose international efforts to get the world’s major economies to impose a global bank tax, government sources tell the Financial Post. This could potentially ignite a major divide among Group of 20 leaders at their summit meeting in Toronto this summer, and further thwart efforts to […]

The Canadian Press OTTAWA — House price increases will moderate as the resale market becomes more balanced, says the president of the Canadian Real Estate Association. “The resale housing market is becoming more balanced in a number of provinces,” Dale Ripplinger said Wednesday after the association released January sales statistics that revealed another big year-over-year […]

New Rules to Come into Force April 19th, 2010   Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced changes to mortgage insurance rules this morning, which are set to come into force on April 19th, 2010.   This means the government will adjust the rules for government-backed insured mortgages as follows: Require that all borrowers meet the standards for a five-year […]

Garry Marr And Theresa Tedesco, Financial Post   The Canadian Real Estate Association has proposed an overhaul of its rules in the wake of allegations by the federal competition watchdog that some of CREA’s practices are anti-competitive, according to internal documents obtained by the Financial Post. The documents show the proposed amendments, which will be voted […]

Feb. 10, 2010 Since last October, home resale numbers have almost doubled, up 41.5 per cent and setting new records in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, all according to figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). It’s stats like these that prompted economists from Scotia Capital, Derek Holt and Karen Cordes, to publish a report […]

ING president speaks out against tighter mortgage rules | Tuesday, 9 February 2010 After providing several comments on the potential housing bubble in Canada, ING Direct Canada president Peter Aceto told the Globe and Mail that Ottawa shouldn’t tighten mortgage rules. “High level, one-stroke fixes are too simple, and can have a very large impact,” […]

Garry Marr, Financial Post  Canadian real estate sales and prices are poised to set records this year, according to a new forecast that is bound to reignite calls in some quarters for tighter lending rules. The Canadian Real Estate Association, which represents 100 boards across the country, said Monday it expects existing-home sales to reach […]

| Thursday, 4 February 2010 Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said Canada is not experiencing a housing bubble and he doesn’t see the need for structural changes to the country’s mortgage market, according to a report in Reuters. “The Canadian mortgage market has functioned I think exceptionally well during the course of the last […]