Industry News - Synergy Mortgage

01Nov

Bank of Canada holds rate at 1.75%, says Canada’s ‘resilience’ will be ‘tested’

[Global News - October 30, 2019] The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate on hold in a decision that positions the country as an exception among advanced economies already responding to the weakening world economy. Governor Stephen Poloz’s team says the domestic economy has held up well in many respects and inflation has been close to target. They warn, however, that Canada isn’t immune to the negative effects of slowing global growth. “In considering the appropriate path for monetary [...]

Bank of Canada announcements

06Oct

Federal election 2019: Where do the parties stand on housing and real estate?

[Globe and Mail - October 1, 2019] Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau wasted no time making real estate an election issue. On the first morning of the campaign, he stood outside a townhouse development in Victoria and unveiled his policies on housing affordability. It was an acknowledgment that the issue is top of mind for many Canadians, especially those living in urban areas where home prices have soared. In big cities and suburbs, young people worry they’ll never be able to afford a [...]

Canada

06Oct

Toronto, Vancouver home sales surge as Canada’s most expensive cities move into recovery mode

[Globe and Mail - October 3, 2019] Home sales rose sharply in Toronto and Vancouver last month as Canada’s most expensive cities continued to move strongly into recovery mode after a long slump. Sales of all home types climbed by 22 per cent in the Greater Toronto Area in September compared with the same month last year, while average prices rose by 5.8 per cent. Much of the growth in activity came from a sharp rebound in sales of detached houses. In [...]

Vancouver Real Estate

06Oct

Tories pledge to boost mortgage repayment periods for first-time buyers

[Globe and Mail - September 23, 2019] Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said a Tory government would review the mortgage stress test and expand repayment periods, proposals that would partly reverse Ottawa’s efforts to discourage homebuyers from taking on too much debt. Mortgage brokers warned that Mr. Scheer’s plan could push housing prices higher, if consumers used their expanded purchasing power to buy more expensive homes. Much like a Liberal announcement earlier in the election campaign, the Conservatives’ housing plan is geared primarily [...]

Canada

29Sep

Laying groundwork a good idea for multi-generational living

[September 27, 2019 - Vancouver Sun] JDL Homes president Doug Langford says the bulk of their business now revolves around plans for multi-generational living. Eight years ago, JDL Homes, worked on a Kitsilano project where the clients asked for an Infilled to be built on the same property as their character house. (Infills can also be known as coach houses; they are different than lane ways because they can have their own legal title, and thus can be sold separately from [...]

Home Design + Decor

29Sep

Pent-up demand, falling prices fuel first monthly housing sales increase in Vancouver in 18 months

[Globe and Mail - August 2, 2019] Pent-up demand helped drive Greater Vancouver housing sales higher last month as buyers on the sidelines took advantage of slumping prices. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said on Friday there were 2,557 sales in July for various housing types in the region, up 23.5 per cent from the same month in 2018. It marked the first time monthly sales have increased year over year since January, 2018. Greater Vancouver’s residential benchmark price slipped [...]

British Columbia, Vancouver Real Estate

29Sep

More Fed cuts expected to push Canadian interest rates lower

[CBC News - September 19, 2019] Watch for effects of shrinking global economy to hit Canada as well A weakening global economy and continued trade fears — and emphatically, he said, not angry words from U.S. President Donald Trump — convinced U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates on Wednesday for the second time this summer. And for Canadians waiting for lower rates, those same global forces are on their way, and will likely force Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz to follow suit. Despite the fact that the quarter [...]

Economic Outlook

29Sep

Non-bank lenders attract wave of money, CMHC report on mortgages says

[Globe and Mail - July 16, 2019] Mortgage Investment Corporations have provided billions of dollars in new lending to Canadian home buyers since 2016 as tougher mortgage qualification rules have driven far more business to private lenders, according to a new report from Canada’s national housing agency. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. released data Tuesday from its first survey of Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs), which are companies that raise financing for mortgages from pools of investors. CMHC said a sample of 100 [...]

Canada

29Sep

The right way to buy a home for your adult kids

[Globe and Mail - September 10, 2019] When Ashton Paul was looking for a larger home to settle down, he turned to his parents for help. Mr. Paul, 35, had already proven he could handle the expenses that come with home ownership. In 2009, he gave his parents $70,000 toward a condo they bought for him as an investment property near the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. Mr. Paul covered the expenses, including the mortgage, condo fees and insurance, until deciding [...]

Mortgage Education Centre

09Sep

Bank of Canada holds rates at 1.75% with no hint about future moves

[Global News - September 4, 2019] The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady as expected on Wednesday but said the escalating U.S.-China trade war was doing more damage to the global economy than it had forecast in July. The central bank — which has sat on the sidelines since last October — maintained its key overnight rate at 1.75 per cent and made no mention of future moves. The current level of stimulus remained appropriate, it said, reiterating the pace of Canadian economic growth [...]

Bank of Canada announcements