One year after B.C.’s short-term rental crackdown, has it made housing cheaper?
By Ashley Joannou Gandall, who has lived in the Era on Yates complex for a decade, described long waits, packages going missing and scratched walls from the high number of visitors using some of its 157 units as short-term rentals. He said residents began to call their building a “ghost hotel.” “The major concern was […]
Yukon launches first-time homebuyer loan program to pay up to half of down payments
The territory says the Yukoner First Home Program will give eligible homebuyers loans that would cover up to half of their down payments on a purchase, and repaying the loan can be deferred until the buyers’ mortgage has been refinanced or paid off. Premier Ranj Pillai says in a statement that the program is meant […]
Amid market turbulence, money managers lean on defensive bets
By Rosa Saba Kevin Burkett, portfolio manager at Burkett Asset Management, says his firm’s strategy isn’t predicated on timing markets or guessing where macroeconomic forces are headed. Instead, it’s focused on a core basket of what he calls “all-weather businesses” that are less vulnerable to the wild swings of tariff-stressed investors. “If the strategy isn’t […]
Rate hikes slow non-bank mortgage growth and fuel rise in arrears
Non-bank mortgage lenders continued to see steady growth in Q4 2024, but the pace has slowed sharply compared to the boom years of 2021 and 2022, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada. Interest rates, delinquency trends and a growing share of uninsured lending all point to a changing market for alternative lenders. Lending […]
BoC expected to pause this week, but more rate cuts still likely
And with fresh inflation data landing just one day before the announcement, Tuesday’s CPI report could be what ultimately tips the scales. The central bank will announce its decision Wednesday morning, alongside a new Monetary Policy Report and revised forecasts. While economists broadly agree that rates are headed lower over time, a cut this week […]
CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts slowed in March
The national housing agency says the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 214,155 units in March, down from 221,405 in February. The change came as the annual pace of starts in centres with a population of 10,000 or greater fell 2.8% to 203,285 compared with 209,093 in February. The annual pace […]
Inflation eases to 2.3%, but BoC still faces tough call on rates
Headline inflation eased to 2.3% year-over-year in March, down from 2.6% in February and below economists’ expectations. Canada’s annual inflation decline was largely driven by lower prices for travel tours (-4.7%, down from +18.8% in February), gasoline (-1.6%), airfares (-12%), and cellular services (-8.8%). Offsetting some of the slowdown was the end of the GST/HST […]
Canada now expected to face deeper recession, Oxford warns
Canada is now forecast to enter a deeper recession than previously expected, according to Oxford Economics, despite lower bilateral tariffs between Canada and the U.S. In its April update, the research firm cut its Canadian GDP forecast by 0.4 percentage points to just 0.7% growth in 2025, followed by a 0.2% contraction in 2026. While […]
Tariff uncertainty foils ‘slam dunk rebound year’ for national home sales: CREA
By Sammy Hudes The association said Canadian home sales in March also fell 4.8% on a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis from February, as potential buyers stayed on the sidelines amid concerns over tariffs and economic uncertainty. CREA is now expecting a total of 482,673 residential properties to be sold throughout the year, essentially unchanged from […]
BoC holds rate at 2.75%, outlines two paths for economy as trade tensions cloud outlook
While inflation eased to 2.3% in March, the Bank cautioned that short-term inflation expectations have risen as businesses and consumers anticipate ongoing trade disruptions. Employment conditions have also weakened, with job losses recorded in March. Additionally, household spending has shown signs of slowing, and business investment remains subdued amid growing uncertainty. “Our focus will be […]