News, Views and Trends!
After years of seeing countless articles and posts about interest rates, housing affordability issues, mortgage stress tests disqualifying some people from being able to buy, higher personal debt levels, does it still make sense to buy a home?
Yes! There is positive news. You can still buy a home. And you can still qualify for a mortgage.
Continue reading “The affordability of homeownership… Rent or Buy?”
A couple years ago, the federal government brought in some tighter mortgage qualifying rules. The ‘stress test’ was just one of several changes, but it’s definitely the most well known.
The feds wanted to slow the housing market. They also wanted to ensure that borrowers could afford the much anticipated mortgage rate hikes. Rates have to go up some time, right?! When?!
Continue reading “Mortgage Rates are still trending Lower… Yes, in August!”
It’s certainly not what the Bank of Canada (BoC) is claiming!
The BoC recently released a document detailing what it believes to be a positive report on the Canadian Mortgage Market, but this article clearly shows how out of touch our government is.
The BoC is applauding their statistics… yet, these numbers show that the government appears to be measuring affordability as a multiple of one’s income – and not by the proven, standard method of debt servicing ratios. This is very odd and, quite frankly, I find it absurd.
Continue reading “What’s the TRUE Impact of Policy Changes on the Canadian Mortgage Market?”
Ontario’s controversial rent control is about to come to an end – and that’s a positive change!
When I was attending a speaking session with one of my favourite economists – Benjamin Tal – a few weeks back, he had a great quote: “There’s a Swedish economist who said, ‘Rent control is the best way to destroy a city, maybe besides bombing it.’”
Isn’t that the truth?!
In the GTA, rental units are scarce. And, says Tal, rent control would only further diminish the already depleted supply of available units.
Could 2018 be the year where the pessimists finally get their way? I hate to admit it, but this could be the year where buying a home may not be a good idea.
OK, just kidding!!!
But after years of seeing countless articles and posts about rising interest rates, housing affordability issues, mortgage stress tests disqualifying some people from being able to buy, higher personal debt levels, NAFTA economic fears and Donald Trump (ok, Trump has nothing to do with this, but you can’t write an article these days without blaming him, right?!), does it still make sense to buy a home?
Yes! There is positive news. You can still buy a home. And you can still qualify for a mortgage.
Continue reading “Buying a home is cheaper than renting. Don’t be intimidated!”
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