B.C. shuts door on secondary-suite incentive program over ‘uncertain financial times’
The government says in a statement that the pilot program won’t accept applications after March 30. It says the federal government’s commitment to implement a similar program was also a factor, and B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says they didn’t want to duplicate programs. Qualified homeowners in the pilot would have received construction costs for […]
Mortgage Rates Are Down About Half a Percent in the Past Six Weeks
What a run it has been for mortgage rates lately. In just the past six weeks, the 30-year fixed has fallen about half a percentage point. At last glance, the 30-year fixed is hovering around 6.75%, down from 7.25% as recently as mid-January. Mortgage rates are currently enjoying some tailwinds related to cooling economic data […]
Retail sales fall 0.6% in January as holiday bump fades and tariff concerns grow
Canadian retail sales slipped 0.6% down to $69.4 billion in January, following a 2.5% spike in December, reports Statistics Canada. The biggest declines came from three of nine subsectors: motor vehicle and parts dealers (-2.6%), food and beverage retailers (-2.5%), and sporting goods, hobby, book and miscellaneous stores (-2.2%). Notable increases were recorded at gasoline […]
Mortgage Rates Are Now Back to October Levels. How Could They Move Even Lower?
Today was yet another good day for mortgage rates, which came down an additional 10 bps (0.10%), per the latest daily survey from Mortgage News Daily. The 30-year fixed now sits at around 6.625%, which is the lowest level seen since early October. It’s down from around 7.25% in mid-January, representing an improvement of roughly […]
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces new cabinet with familiar names, few changes
By Liam Casey and Allison Jones Ontario Premier Doug Ford named a new cabinet Wednesday with many familiar faces to tackle the challenges that a trade war with the United States will bring, though he did shuffle his housing, education and environment ministers. Ford focused much of his speech after he and his new cabinet […]
Have Trump and Bessent Actually Lowered Mortgage Rates At All?
There’s been a lot of optimism about mortgage rates under Trump. After all, rates have fallen for the past six weeks from around 7.25% to 6.75%, which is a pretty decent run. It feels as if the campaign promise to lower interest rates wasn’t just talk; it’s actually real. But then when you look at […]
Trump’s tariffs on Canada: A timeline of trade tensions
The dispute—rooted in border security concerns and economic policy—has already rattled markets and strained diplomatic ties. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Here’s a timeline of key events so far: February 2025 February 1, 2025: President Donald Trump signed executive orders imposing a 25% tariff on all goods from Canada, with a 10% tariff specifically on […]
Don’t Be Surprised If Mortgage Rates Go Up Tomorrow
Tomorrow is a big day for mortgage rates, potentially. I say that because tomorrow is the release of the monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Known as the Employment Situation, it details how many jobs were added in the prior month, in this case February. It also includes the unemployment rate, […]
Carney pledges to cut GST for first-time buyers of homes under $1M
Prime Minister Mark Carney is promising relief for first-time homebuyers by eliminating the GST on homes priced at $1 million or less. The new measure, unveiled in Edmonton just days before the expected launch of the federal election campaign, would save buyers as much as $50,000, Carney said. It also aims to stimulate new housing […]
Check Out These Charts from the Early 1900s
Today we’ll take a brief look at some mortgage rate history to gain a little context for where we stand today. It’s always helpful to know what came before so you can better guess what might come after. Just about everyone knows that mortgage rates hit all-time record lows in 2021. But do you know […]