Spring is here! Its time to plan your garden!
After a dreary depressing winter Spring is here! Not to mention the wonderful weather we are having today and expecting for the rest of the week. Its time to plan your garden! I’m tempted to get outside and start raking away the residue from the long winter. There are leaves to clean up that were […]
February job market looking good!
Finally, some good news! The February job market is looking good! Stats Canada released the February 2021 Labour Force Survey that concluded stronger than expected job growth. The easing of the latest restrictions and lockdowns revived the labour market; a pleasant surprise. Canada’s economy has been resilient but we still remain at risk because of […]
Bond rate increases might trigger interest rate increases.
I appears to be happening! Fixed interest rates are on the rise! Rising Bond Rates Fixed mortgage rates are determined by the 5 year bond yield which has been closing at increased values. This ends up costing mortgage lenders more as the margins that they use for profit and expenses decreases because their borrowing costs […]
Tremendous housing market gains in Barrie in January 2021
The statistics are in for January 2021 and in spite of Covid 19 lockdowns and business closures, Barrie and District Real Estate Board had tremendous gains in housing market activity as compared to January 2020. Its important to note that we are comparing pandemic numbers to pre-pandemic numbers. City of Barrie In the first month […]
2020: A Surprisingly Good Year in Housing
Surprisingly, 2020 turned out to be a banner year for home sales as the number of new listings lagged, causing prices to soar. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, December data showed that, nationally, home sales surged 7.2% month over month during the Fall (a time when home sales are usually slower). A new […]
Mortgage Interest Rates – 2020 in Review
It goes without saying that 2020 was an unprecedented year. Covid 19 changed all that we knew to be true. In reaction to the close of businesses, government stimulus and the affect lockdowns had on the economy, mortgage interest rates generally went down. The goal was to prevent an economic collapse. Housing markets held their […]
Slowed Canada job recovery in October.
Stats Canada released their survey which showed an increase of 83,600 jobs in October, well below the gains in September of 378,000. The average monthly gains over the last six months have been 395,000. The good news though is that most of the job gains in October were full time. The number of Canadians working […]
Record High Home Sales & Prices in September
There were record high home sales and prices in September! As the weather turned colder, home sales heated up by 0.9% month over month, giving mortgage brokers throughout Canada plenty to do. Given the unique circumstances of this past year, this change in sales can be at least partially attributed to a delayed demand from […]
Canadian real estate gains in May 2020.
There was good news in the real estate and housing markets. Home sales surged by 56.9% in May from Aprils collapse. The Canadian Real Estate Association’s data showed that national home sales recovered by about one third of its Covid related loss between February and April. Year over year activity was down almost 40%. There […]
CMHC mortgage changes, June 2020
CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) has made some changes to their insured lending policies. If you are buying a home with less than 20% down payment, you are required to purchase mortgage default insurance. The premium is usually added to the mortgage amount. There are 3 providers in Canada, CMHC, Canada Guaranty and Genworth. […]
