Vulnerabilities in the housing sector have edged higher, the Bank of Canada said today in its Financial System Review (FSR), while the overall level of risk to Canada’s financial system has remained roughly unchanged since June.

The Bank continues to identify two key vulnerabilities related to the Canadian household sector: the elevated level of household indebtedness, and imbalances in the housing market. A third vulnerability relates to uncertain market liquidity in fixed-income markets.

Nonetheless, the Bank believes that the Canadian financial system is resilient and that the global financial...

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has updated its forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations for 2015 and 2016.

Since CREA’s last forecast published in September, housing markets in British Columbia and Ontario have strengthened further. As a result, CREA has raised sales and average price forecasts for these provinces.

While housing markets in other provinces have performed as expected through the autumn, prospects in 2016 for a rebound in oil prices – and...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 8,032 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in November, up 34.5 per cent from the same month last year. Total sales dollar volume was $5.38 billion, up 56.4 per cent compared to the previous year. The average MLS® residential price in the province rose to $668,317, up 16.3 per cent from November 2014.

“Housing demand last month was the second strongest ever recorded for the month of November,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA...

The Liberal government is raising the minimum down payment for new insured mortgages to 10 per cent from 5 per cent for the portion of house prices above $500,000.

The new rules will take effect on Feb. 15, 2016. Down payment rules for mortgages for properties below $500,000 will be unchanged.

The move is aimed at cooling overheated housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver but that could risk exaggerating a home price correction in the Prairies.

Ottawa raises minimum down payment for costly homes ( CP Video )

At a news conference in Ottawa, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Ottawa...

The trend measure of housing starts in Canada was 208,401 units in November compared to 206,125 in October, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

“The trend in housing starts increased for a seventh consecutive month due to the multi-unit segment,” said Bob Dugan, CMHC’s Chief Economist. “Rising single home prices continue to support demand for multiples, which are poised to reach the largest ...

 Evan Siddall, President and CEO of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), spoke today to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. In his speech, Siddall explained to the Montreal business community “why housing matters” and how housing can be an effective tool to achieve broader social and economic policy objectives.

He noted that while housing can contribute to broader stability, problems in the housing sector can also be the sign of wider financial instability and he further expanded on the vulnerabilities facing the housing market in Canada.

“In Canada, a...

The Bank of Canada announced on December 2^nd, 2015 that it was keeping its trend-setting target overnight lending rate at 0.5 per cent.

Helped by interest rate cuts earlier this year, the Canadian economy rebounded in the third quarter of 2015 from two previous consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. However, the Bank expects “[economic] growth to moderate in the fourth quarter of 2015 before moving to a rate above potential in 2016.”

The Bank’s latest Monetary Policy Report published in October pegged the rate of potential Canadian economic growth in 2016 somewhere in...

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent.

Global economic growth is evolving essentially as the Bank had anticipated in its October Monetary Policy Report (MPR). The US economy continues to grow at a solid pace, although private domestic demand has proven slightly less robust than expected. Meanwhile, commodity prices have declined further. The ongoing terms-of-trade adjustments and shifting growth prospects across different regions are contributing...

Home sales reached near record levels in November even as home listings began the traditional year-end decline.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Metro Vancouver reached 3,524 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in November 2015. This represents a 40.1 per cent increase compared to the 2,516 sales recorded in November 2014, and a 3.3 per cent decrease compared to the 3,646 sales in October 2015.

Last month’s sales were 46.2 per cent above the 10-year sales average for the month and rank as the...