Taghousing bubble

Posted August 20, 20191 Comment Interest rates

Mortgage Rates are still trending Lower… Yes, in August!

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!”

Posted November 22, 20181 Comment Mortgage News

Housing slump? Recession? Not so fast…

Remember all those pessimists who were calling for a housing bubble or collapse?

If you listened to them and rented for the past eight years, how much would you have lost? How much would your rent have increased since then? And would you still be able to rent that condo or house… or would your landlord possibly have plans to sell it and leave you out in the cold?

We used to expect an economic slowdown or recession every five years. But something happened after the last big recession in 1990. Since then, there has really only been one recession: in 2009.

This came off the heels of the infamous US subprime mortgage crisis that crippled most of the world’s economies for years. Yet, in Canada, we got off relatively easy. Our slowdown lasted less than a year.

Continue reading “Housing slump? Recession? Not so fast…”

Posted August 28, 2018 Mortgage News

Looser Mortgage Standards Hit the UK! Is Canada Next?!

There’s nothing surprising about the loosening of mortgage standards to spur growth. In the last real housing bubble of 1990, banks and government brought in stricter lending rules, making it tougher for borrowers to get a mortgage.

Fast forward to the present. We’ve yet to see a housing bubble or market crash, but the government has taken drastic – perhaps even unheard of – precautions to slow the housing market.

In 1990, I was working for the largest trust company in Canada. I can tell you that it has never been harder to qualify for a mortgage than it is today!

Continue reading “Looser Mortgage Standards Hit the UK! Is Canada Next?!”

Posted June 19, 20186 Comments Mortgage News

Real Estate Rebounds in June as Expected!

Earlier this year, I voiced my disagreement with the real estate pessimists who said a real estate crash or bubble was forming. Click here to read more.

This same more positive outlook is backed up by CMHC’s latest Housing Market Insight report for Ontario courtesy of regional economist Ted Tsiakopoulos.

Below are some key highlights from CMHC’s report:

Continue reading “Real Estate Rebounds in June as Expected!”

Posted April 15, 20172 Comments Mortgage News

Housing bubble is coming… again?

You’ve seen them before.. but they went silent for a few years. I’m talking about the housing bears. The pessimists that say house prices are too high and will crash. A housing bubble.

Are they right? Maybe. But here’s the thing. We’ve been hearing that house prices are too high for over a decade. One of the more vocal pessimists is David Madani, Economist for Capital Economics.

HOUSING BUBBLE?

Madani was on BNN this past week saying we are in a ‘Full blown housing bubble’. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. Let me think… when did I hear that before? Oh, that’s right, 2011. He said, we could see house prices drop by 25% in 2011. And he was completely wrong. (hope you didn’t listen to him). Continue reading “Housing bubble is coming… again?”