Toronto is now the world's second most overvalued property market: UBS Full article can be seen here: https://business.financialpost.com/real-estate/toronto-is-now-the-worlds-second-most-overvalued-property-market Colin McClelland September 30, 2019 3:00 PM EDT Toronto has emerged as the world’s second most overvalued housing market on the back of low rates and supply shortages, according to UBS AG’s annual global real estate bubble index. Vancouver was sixth in the Swiss bank’s 2019 index that is led by Munich, with Hong Kong, Amsterdam and Frankfurt filling out the other top spots. Toronto’s housing prices tripled between 2000 and 2017 and even the introduction of a foreign buyer’s tax and tighter mortgage rules only temporarily cooled red-hot prices,…

Don't-pay-til-you-die reverse mortgages are booming in Canada as seniors binge on debt Already carrying debt, many seniors can't downsize because they can't afford high rents, so turn to reverse mortgages for a new source of income As a full service mortgage brokerage, we too can arrange reverse mortgages if that is something you feel would be suited to you.  However, just like with any other mortgage product, it has it pros and cons.  Give us a call if you have any questions about reverse mortgages, we are happy to help.  Below is an article discussing some of the reasons behind the surge…

Many clients come to me looking to refinance their mortgage, and at the last minute they are shocked to find out the penalty they needed to pay to break their mortgage, even with the advice of finding that amount out first.  By finding out what it would cost to break your mortgage first, you will be able to determine whether or not doing so makes financial sense.  It will save you time, as well as money. Here is an article regarding this topic: Doing the math on when to break a mortgage contract By Lesley-Anne ScorgieContributing Columnist Sun., Sept. 8, 2019 Full article can be seen here: https://www.thestar.com/life/opinion/2019/09/08/doing-the-math-on-when-to-break-a-mortgage-contract.html Despite…

Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1 ¾ percent The Bank of Canada has maintains its overnight rate target at 1.75%.  The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is October 30, 2019 https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2019/09/fad-press-release-2019-09-04/ The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1 ¾ percent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2 percent and the deposit rate is 1 ½ percent. As the US-China trade conflict has escalated, world trade has contracted and business investment has weakened. This is weighing more heavily on global economic momentum than the Bank had projected in its July Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Meanwhile, growth in the…

Trudeau’s homebuyer plan offers little solace in pricey markets By Natalie Wong and Paula Sambo Bloomberg Mon., Sept. 2, 2019 Full article can be seen here: https://www.thestar.com/business/2019/09/02/trudeaus-homebuyer-plan-offers-little-solace-in-pricey-markets.html Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to make housing more affordable for first-time buyers. His efforts may be of little help to people in the country’s priciest cities. The national housing agency aims to spend up to $1.25 billion over three years subsidizing down payments for new lower- to middle-income buyers. Under the program, launched Monday, the government will pay up to 10 per cent of the purchase price in exchange for a stake in the home that would be paid…

With talks of a recession in the news recently, some might just question how real the concerns are. Here is an interesting post about some of the opinions and numbers behind these concerns.  Full article can be seen here: https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/how-real-are-concerns-about-a-recession-1004167435/ August 23, 2019   by Adam Malik So long as a trade war and tariffs being thrown around, recessionary fears will always linger over the head of the economy. But that doesn’t mean it’s all storm clouds. One economist believes Canada is in good shape. The latest chapter in the trade war happened just before the weekend. China announced a tariff hike of $75 billion on…

Here is an article about the topic of a recession.  With the stock markets dropping dramatically yesterday, there are an endless supply of view and opinions.  What I take from this is that Canada has record levels of debt.  Here is the quote from the article which drew me in: "So what happens if there’s a recession? Debt might not be the immediate cause of the downturn, but it might add fuel to the fire and make a recession worse. Say, for instance, that protectionism shaves enough points off global or U.S. GDP to create a sharp recession. Corporate and…

Is Canada facing a recession? What does that mean for the mortgage industry, home owners, buyer, sellers and the job market?  Here is an article discussing some of those topics. Is a global recession coming? Here's why analysts are worried Even if you don’t pay close attention to the stock market, Wednesday’s news may have caught your attention. The main stock indexes in Canada and the U.S. both plummeted in their worst day of the year, and economic analysts are worried that a global recession could be around the corner. There isn’t just one reason to worry. Several economic indicators from around the world…

With real estate construction booming in Canada, construction management apps like Punchzee help builders navigate their complex project with ease.  The more complex a project the higher the need for these types of apps. Punchzee is one of the latest, and it offers unsurpassed customizations and flexibility to the user, and can even be "white label" customized to each company, so that their reports, quotes and interface can reflect their own company's logos and color scheme. With the construction management software market to enter into the multi billions in the next few years you can expect to see the competition become fiercer in…

Desperate times call for desperate financing, apparently. By Daniel Tencer Full article can be seen here: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/mortgage-borrowing-canada_ca_5d337b57e4b0419fd32dc7c8 MONTREAL ― When people are desperate for something but can’t get it through official channels, they often turn to less-official ones.  And typically, there’s someone there to meet the demand. The Raps game may be sold out, but there’s a guy in the alley going, “Raps tickets! Get Raps ticket right here!” The mortgage market works according to similar principles. In Canada, the home-lending equivalent of a scalper is known as a mortgage investment corporation, and these MICs have been doing a brisk business lately. Borrowers at MICs don’t…

Canadians may now be able to afford slightly more expensive homes Nicholas Sokic July 19, 2019 11:54 AM EDT Full article can be seen here: https://business.financialpost.com/real-estate/mortgages/bank-of-canada-drops-mortgage-stress-test-rate-for-first-time-since-2016   For the first time in almost three years, the Bank of Canada has cut its minimum mortgage qualifying rate, dropping it to 5.19 per cent from 5.34 per cent. The central bank’s new rate has a slight effect on the mortgage stress test for those with uninsured mortgages. “At a minimum, the qualifying rate for all uninsured mortgages should be the greater of the contractual mortgage rate plus two per cent or the five-year benchmark rate published by the Bank of Canada,”…

Mortgage rules in Canada have faces some harsh changes in the past few years.  As your Toronto Mortgage Broker I can help navigate the mortgage world alongside you, answering any questions you may have about the mortgage process. Here is an article discussing the requst from the Ontario Real Estate Associaton to relax the mortgage rules that are currently in place.   TORONTO -- The Ontario Real Estate Association is calling for less stringent mortgage rules in a rebuttal aimed at the head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. OREA chief executive Tim Hudak says in a letter to federal policy-makers that Ottawa should…

At www.vericomortgages.ca we specialize in non-bank mortgages.  As your Mortgage Broker Toronto specialist we have access to Trust Companies, Credit Unions, MIC's (mortgage investment corporations), and many private lenders. The reason that Non-Bank lenders are taking on a bigger share of the market is due to many factors.  A few of them being, the difficulty to qualify under the "stress test", debt service ratio limits that are more stringent for the big banks, and having less flexibility for customers with bruised credit. Many Non-Bank mortgage lenders offer rates just as competitive as the banks, and we have access to the few remaining lenders…

East versus west is the new divide in the country's obsession with home equity. By Daniel Tencer https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/housing-market-strength_ca_5d2c9fbee4b032ea7411e6d8 07/15/2019 12:18 EDT | Updated 07/15/2019 12:21 EDT Canada’s housing markets are becoming a story of east versus west, with solid sales and rising prices in Ontario and points east, and the exact opposite in the western provinces. Nationwide home sales stayed steady in June, the Canadian Real Estate Association reported on Monday, declining a miniscule 0.2 per cent from May. The benchmark house price for all markets rose 0.3 per cent in the month, to $616,600. That’s still about 1 per cent lower than its peak at the end…

Finally, mortgage renewals have entered a new era MATT LUNDY Full article can be seen here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-finally-mortgage-renewals-have-entered-a-new-era/ As Canadian mortgages come up for renewal, many households are starting to experience what TD Economics has dubbed a “completely new phenomenon” – higher interest rates. In a recent report, TD looked at the change to the conventional five-year mortgage rate over its term length. Essentially, this shows where rates for a popular product – the five-year, fixed-rate mortgage – stand upon renewal. For much of the past quarter-century, the change has been negative, meaning Canadians could expect lower rates come renewal time. But earlier this year, the difference…

The world of easy money transformed Canada into debt nation. That world is coming to an end Our parents and grandparents borrowed with the intention of paying it back. We don't think like that anymore Theresa Tedesco · for CBC News · Posted: Oct 24, 2018 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: October 24 Full article can be seen here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/debt-opinion-1.4874956 That Canada is a country of borrowers, not savers, is now a given. Accumulating high levels of household debt has become a necessity for a modern life – and arguably, a new normal. Currently, Canadians owe $1.69 for every dollar of after-tax income we earn a year. That ratio is down…

Bank of Canada Raises Rates to 10-Year High STEVE HUEBL  OCTOBER 24, 2018 Full article can be seen here: https://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/2018/10/bank-canada-raises-rates-10-year-high/ The Bank of Canada today delivered a widely expected quarter-point increase to the overnight target rate, raising borrowing costs for millions of Canadians. Citing an economy that is operating “at capacity” and modest wage growth, the BoC noted in its statement that the “policy interest rate will need to rise to a neutral stance to achieve the inflation target.” That neutral range, it says, is between 2.50% and 3.50%, suggesting additional rate increases of 75-100 bps. Removed from previous statements was the word “gradual” concerning future rate increases. The BoC…

Condo flippers aren’t the Vancouver and Toronto housing culprits By ERIK HERTZBERGBloomberg GREG QUINN Mon., Oct. 15, 2018 Full Article can be seen here: https://www.thestar.com/business/2018/10/15/condo-flippers-arent-the-vancouver-and-toronto-housing-culprits.html OTTAWA—Condo flipping was never pervasive in the Vancouver and Toronto housing booms and that sliver of the market has faded over time, suggesting tougher measures to curb speculators won’t make those cities more affordable. Just 3.4 per cent of Vancouver condominiums sold between April and June were units that had already been sold over the previous year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from Teranet Inc.’s land and housing registry. The share of “paired sales” is close to the 2.9 per cent average…

Housing stress test disproportionately harms young homebuyers: mortgage industry Ryan Flanagan, Web Journalist, CTVNews.ca Full Article can be seen here: https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/housing-stress-test-disproportionately-harms-young-homebuyers-mortgage-industry-1.4136117 Published Tuesday, October 16, 2018 11:42AM EDT  Last Updated Tuesday, October 16, 2018 3:29PM EDT A recently toughened stress test is making it more difficult for young people and newcomers to the country to buy homes, Canadian mortgage industry leaders say. The stress test requirement came into effect in January. Anyone taking out an uninsured mortgage must be able to prove that they could continue to make their payments if their interest rate rose by two per cent, or to two per cent more than the Bank…

CMHC says annual pace of housing starts slowed in September CBC October 9, 2018   Full article can be seen here: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/cmhc-says-annual-pace-housing-164200343.html   The annual pace of Canadian housing starts fell to their lowest level in nearly two years in September. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the seasonally adjusted annual rate came in at 188,683 units last month, down from 198,843 in August. Thomson Reuters Eikon says economists had expected an annual rate of 210,000 for September. September marks the third straight monthly decline. The slowdown in the pace of housing starts comes amid rising interest rates from the Bank of Canada, and more restrictive mortgage rules. "The September…