What's next for the Bank of Canada, and why mortgage holders are still holding on: This week's top real estate stories - The Globe and Mail | Canada News Media
Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.
The Bank of Canada holds off on interest-rate hikes, but the door remains open
The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate at 4.5 per cent this week, pausing its year-long campaign to increase borrowing costs. The widely anticipated decision makes the Bank of Canada the first major central bank to halt monetary-policy tightening and puts it on a different trajectory than the U.S. Federal Reserve, whose officials have said they expect to increase interest rates several more times.
This sounds like good news for borrowers, but central bank officials say they need more evidence that the economy is cooling and inflation is slowing before ruling out further interest-rate hikes, reports Mark Rendell.
Property taxes up in some cities – should you worry about other tax hikes?
Property taxes are going up 10.7 per cent and 5.5 per cent in Vancouver and Toronto, respectively. Victoria is looking for ways to raise revenue so it can keep this year’s tax hike to 6.9 per cent, and Montreal’s 2023 budget includes an average tax increase of 4.1 per cent.
Now comes federal budget season, and the government has to balance a deficit and big spending commitments. And despite high interest rates and stubborn inflation, tax hikes are on the agenda, writes Rob Carrick.
Reasons why Canadian mortgage holders are surviving extreme rate hikes
Canadians are caught up in the fiercest interest-rate shock in decades. Despite punishing payment increases, the overwhelming majority of mortgage borrowers are hanging tough, at least so far. In his weekly column, Robert McLister gives eight reasons why.
More Canadians are spending a quarter of their income on mortgage payments
The Bank of Canada says the share of borrowers spending more than 25 per cent of their income on mortgage payments is growing: from 12 per cent in 2021 to 29 per cent today. The central bank considers these households to be more vulnerable to rising interest rates and loss of income, Rachelle Younglai and Mark Rendell report. The Bank of Canada’s data also shows that indebted households are falling behind on their car loans, credit cards and lines of credit payments.
Canada’s biggest shopping malls scramble for new tenants after Nordstrom’s departure
Last week, luxury retailer Nordstrom announced its exit from Canada, closing 13 department stores and laying off 2,500 employees. It’s the latest U.S. chain to retreat from the country in the face of strong domestic competition. The closing of the company’s six Canadian Nordstrom stores and seven Nordstrom Rack stores will eliminate anchor tenants in several of the country’s largest malls, leaving landlords scrambling for replacements, potentially facing requests for rent reductions from other stores if customer traffic declines, reports Rachelle Younglai.
Home of the week: A lakeside condo with singular views
A 1,600-square-foot unit in the Grand Harbour complex on Etobicoke’s waterfront, with wraparound windows overlooking the yacht clubs below, a balcony and a large terrace. The unit has two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and a powder room, and the complex’s amenities include an indoor saltwater pool, squash and basketball courts, and a car wash.
What do you think is the asking price for this house?
TORONTO – One expert predicts Ottawa‘s changes to mortgage rules will help spur demand among potential homebuyers but says policies aimed at driving new supply are needed to address the “core issues” facing the market.
The federal government’s changes, set to come into force mid-December, include a higher price cap for insured mortgages to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
CIBC Capital Markets deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal calls it a “significant” move likely to accelerate the recovery of the housing market, a process already underway as interest rates have begun to fall.
However, he says in a note that policymakers should aim to “prevent that from becoming too much of a good thing” through policies geared toward the supply side.
Tal says the main issue is the lack of supply available to respond to Canada’s rapidly increasing population, particularly in major cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17,2024.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.