Canadian Housing Market Paused In July   Despite the continued decline in interest rates, the Canadian housing market saw summer doldrums last month. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) announced today that national home sales fell 0.7% monthly while rising 4.8% from year-ago levels. A significant uptick in sales activity is likely this fall, reflecting […]

Weaker-Than-Expected July Jobs Report Keeps BoC Rate Cuts In-Play   Canadian employment data, released August 9 by Statistics Canada, showed a continued slowdown, which historically would have been a harbinger of recession. This cycle, immigration has augmented the growth of the labour force and consumer spending, forestalling a significant economic downturn. Employment declined again in […]

Happy Wednesday! Not sure where all the sunshine went this morning given the good news that the Bank of Canada once again reduced rates but here we are with another .25% rate reduction! Great news for those variable rate mortgage holders, those with balances on Lines of Credit and also those with car loans tied […]

Canadian Inflation Fell in June, Setting the Stage For BoC Rate Cut   Inflation unexpectedly slipped 0.1% (not seasonally adjusted) in June, following a 0.6% increase in May. This was the first decline in six months. The monthly decrease was driven by lower prices for travel tours (-11.1%) and gasoline (-3.1%). The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.7% year over […]

Weaker-Than-Expected June Jobs Report Keeps BoC Rate Cuts In Play   Canadian employment data, released today by Statistics Canada, showed a marked slowdown, which historically would have been a harbinger of recession. This cycle, immigration has augmented the growth of the labour force and consumer spending, forestalling a significant economic downturn. Nevertheless, the Bank of […]

The Bank of Canada finally began an easing cycle on June 5, taking their overnight policy rate down 25 bps to 4.75%–the first major central bank to do so. The housing market has languished over the past year with extremely weak affordability. The Multiple-Listing Service Home Price Index fell again in May and is now […]

  With the first Bank of Canada rate drop having occurred in June, many individuals are looking at the housing market with renewed vigor and an expectation that rates will continue to come down to a more sustainable level. If you are someone who is considering entering the housing market this summer, there are a […]

Did you know, approximately 60 percent of people break their mortgage before their mortgage term matures? While this is not necessarily avoidable, most homeowners are blissfully unaware of the penalties that can be incurred when you break your mortgage contract – and sometimes, these penalties can be painfully expensive. Below are some of the most […]

May Jobs Report   In the first major data release since the Bank of Canada cut interest rates on Wednesday, Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey for May showed a marked slowdown from the April surge. Employment was little changed and the employment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 61.3%, the seventh decrease in the past eight […]

Finally the news we’ve been all waiting for.  That is Variable Rate Mortgage Holders, anyone with a HELOC or perhaps any other source of debt that is tied to the Bank of Canada Prime Rate.  Today, marks the first decrease since the Bank of Canada steadily increased the rate over the last several years. They […]