Real Estate

This Week’s Top Stories: Canadian Real Estate & Labor Markets Are Weakening

22/09/2023

Time for your cheat sheet on this week’s top stories.

Canadian Real Estate

Canadian Real Estate Balancing In A “Meaningful” Way, Pause Unlikely To Boost Market: BMO

The Canadian real estate market is back to cooling after a brief jump in activity post-rate pause. Existing home sales fell, and new listings have been climbing to the point the market is now considered  “balanced.” Despite getting another rate pause a few days ago, BMO says it’s unlikely to reignite the market the way the January pause did. The economy is much weaker, record building will supply even more inventory, and most importantly—the mortgage market is much tighter, and won’t provide any relief. 

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If Canadian Unemployment Is So Low, Why All The Long Job Lines?

Canada’s unemployment is just off the record low, and by all technical measures—means we’re facing a very robust market. Yet social media is filled with

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Real Estate

Feds remove GST on rental builds and more Canadian real estate news for September 16

19/09/2023

Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

Canada needs 3.45 million more homes by 2030 to cut housing costs as population grows, CMHC predicts

A new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says Canada needs 3.45 million more homes to bring housing costs down as the population increases, reports Rachelle Younglai. That’s in addition to the 1.68 million that are expected to be built by 2030 if the pace of construction remains the same. If Canada continues to admit record levels of about half-a-million new permanent residents per year, the CMHC predicts the number of new homes required will raise to 4 million.

Ottawa will remove GST from new rental construction in response

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Real Estate

Short-term relief from Bank of Canada rate hold and more Canadian real estate news for September 9

15/09/2023
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Home of the Week: 5036 Vanstone Crescent NW, CalgaryHayden Pattullo/Hayden Pattullo/Damon Hayes Couture

Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

Homeowners with mortgages to get short-term relief, but future Bank of Canada rate hikes a ‘looming’ fear

The Bank of Canada announced Wednesday it was holding its key interest rate steady at 5 per cent, but borrowers shouldn’t celebrate just yet. Due to the rising concern about inflation, the bank is leaving the door open to future hikes. Rising rates have affected homeowners with variable-rate mortgages, reports Rachelle Younglai. This week’s decision has some borrowers in a state of “constant looming fear” that a hike in the future will

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Real Estate

Ottawa’s vacancy rates at all-time-high: Canadian real estate news for September 2

06/09/2023
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Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

Vacancy rates in downtown Ottawa hit all-time high as public service employees continue to work from home

Ottawa’s downtown core is seeing record-high vacancy rates, and real estate insiders say the federal government’s work-from-home policy is the culprit, reports Adam Stanley. The federal government is Ottawa’s largest employer, with more than 113,000 people working in the city, but many of them are still working remotely. In an effort to revitalize the downtown area, commercial real estate veterans are calling for the government to require its employees to return to the office.

Major mortgage insurer cuts back on disclosing information about homeowners with underwater

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Real Estate

Canadian Real Estate Losses Are Reversing At A Brisk Pace: BMO

24/08/2023

Canadian real estate prices surged higher as rates were cut, then plunged as rates climbed. According to a new BMO Capital Markets analysis, markets have retraced a significant portion of their losses despite higher interest rates. In fact, some real estate markets are even hitting new record highs alongside climbing interest rates.

Tracking The Canadian Real Estate Correction And Recovery

The bank’s chart shows the peak-to-trough decline, relative to the current market. Bars on the chart represent the peak-to-trough price drop, which generally occurred from Feb 2022 to Feb 2023. The black dot shows where prices are relative to the start of the correction.

For example, let’s look at Toronto. The city’s bar shows that the benchmark composite HPI fell 17% from peak to trough. Since hitting the bottom (trough), the dot indicates that prices remain 9% below peak. In short, nearly half of the price decline has been reversed.

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