The Canadian real estate industry is in a tight spot these days. With home-ownership rates headed for record levels and the federal government tightening lending rules to cool the market, the question now is whether we have reached the saturation point. Bank of Nova Scotia economist Adrienne Warren says that when the latest census figures […]

If you asked 100 recent home buyers if they were satisfied with the size of their down payment, as many as 60 of them would say no. That’s what TD Canada Trust found in a recent survey of first time home buyers. This finding is hardly surprising: A bigger down payment means less interest paid, […]

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. revised its forecasts on Tuesday, saying Canadians should watch for the housing market to “moderate” as both home sales and new construction start to slow. But while many industry watchers agree that a softening is on the way, they are divided about how supple the housing market will get, and […]

Nearly a third of young Canadians have not started saving for retirement, although a quarter of them want to leave the work force early. A poll released Wednesday by the Bank of Montreal found that 27 per cent of young adults, defined as those between the ages of 18 and 34, say they have not […]

Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney has been warning about the high level of consumer debt in Canada since 2011, and this advice has been largely ignored. Canadian consumers’ debt levels today are by any measure higher than they have ever been. The irony is that we are on the cusp of the second phase […]

With yields on Canadian and U.S. bonds at their lowest levels in a generation, the only direction for interest rates would seem to be upward. But investors and savers may be waiting far longer than they expect for those higher rates. A weakening global economy, combined with a flood of money from safety-seeking investors has […]

Existing home sales dropped 1.3% in June from the month before and were down 4.4% from the year before, suggesting that Canada’s housing market was already cooling before Ottawa tightened mortgage rules. The national average home price in June was $369,339, down 0.8% from the same month last year, Canadian Real Estate Association reported Monday. […]

Effective yesterday, mortgage shoppers with less than 20% equity are subject to thenew mortgage rules announced recently by the government. These regulations will cut buying power and refinance ability for a minority of Canadians. If these changes shut you out of the market, and if renting is not appealing, you don’t have a ton of options. One […]

Canada’s federal finance minister is urging his provincial counterparts to heed the lessons of Europe and keep tightening their budgets as he seeks to keep Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio the lowest in the Group of Seven rich nations. In remarks summarizing a conference call he held with the provincial ministers on Wednesday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty […]

We all try to keep on top of things when it comes to our finances, but sometimes sudden changes can throw us for a loop. Changes to rules for insured mortgages that were announced late last week fall into that category. They could have a big impact on your mortgage payments and the total amount […]