Industry News
Will higher mortgage rates ruin the housing market? How much will mortgage rates rise in the next 12 to 24 months?
Click here to watch a quick video with Globe and Mail Personal Finance Columnist Rob Carrick and BMO Chief Economist Doug Porter.
Canada’s small businesses want us to give up our credit cards one day a week, and use debit or cash instead.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), which represents almost 110,000 small- and medium-sized concerns, teamed up with financial commentator Gail Vaz-Oxlade today to launch a campaign for “Credit Free Friday.”
It’s to their benefit, of course, and the CFIB acknowledges the merchant fees attached to credit card use.
But it also points out that consumers can save themselves a bundle, too, while scaling back on the record high debt burden among Canadian households.
“Very few consumers know than $5-7-billion each year in credit card processing fees is embedded in the cost of everything they buy, and with ever-higher tiers of premium cards hitting the market, that cost is only going up,” CFIB President Dan Kelly said as he launched the campaign.
Click here for the full Globe and Mail article.
Lucky number seven. That’s where Vancouver appears on Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2014 – top 10 cities.
Lotus Land is sandwiched between number six Shanghai and number eight Chicago – the only other North American city included on the list. Sorry, top “brand” cities New York and Toronto.
The world’s best city for travel, according to Lonely Planet, is “The City of Love,” Paris, France.
Vancouver, regularly cited as one of the world’s “most livable cities,” was lauded by the travel publication for its natural surroundings: Vancouver delivers on nature’s eye-candy – visit, and you’ll never be too far from spectacular mountain vistas, rambling evergreen parks and protected sandy beaches. You’ll appreciate the big-city-look/small-town-vibe the moment you arrive at the airport. Situated neatly on the Burrard Peninsula, a hotchpotch of office towers and hastily planned condos compete for the best of some of the world’s most expensive views, earning the nickname ‘City of Glass’. People live here because they love to run, bike, swim, ski and play. Boredom is not permitted here. If you simply can’t take any more of how good it gets, or it won’t stop raining, or you’ve run outta cash, head for the hills: Cypress, Seymour and Grouse Mountains, and the world-famous Whistler (ski) and Blackcomb (snowboard) areas are within easy reach.
Click here to read more from BuzzBuzzHome.
The CMP Canadian Mortgage Awards are back with a focus on charity and ready to honour this year’s leading industry players.
Online nominations opened earlier this month, giving nominees even more time to campaign before the event kicks off May 9th at the Liberty Grand in Toronto.
New this year, CMP has put together a how-to video on nominations to guide you through the process and ensure finalists are, once again, drawn from across Canada’s broker channel. That aid, along with much more on the event’s future and history are available on the CMA website. Click here to access the video.
And, once again, organizers are publishing the judging criteria for each award on the same web portal, inviting you to review that list before making your nominations. But above and beyond the nominations themselves, CMP is also identifying leading brokers in all award categories as deserving of a nomination and consideration by the judges – a collection of experts drawn from within and outside the industry. You can find the criteria for all 21 awards by clicking here.
Click here to make your nominations today!
Be sure to review this information early and encourage your clients, referrals sources, industry partners, etc to nominate you for your award(s) of choice! Being proactive during the nomination process is much more likely to result in you becoming an awards finalist!