Our committment to thought leadership
We have assembled a collection of thought provoking articles, reports, surveys, industry information, and other interesting content for your enjoyment.
by Yvonne von Jena | October 31, 2018
CMHC’s Evan Siddall spoke about regulatory changes and B-20 at the MPC Expo in Montreal this past weekend. The discussion revolved around federal mortgage rule changes, including the new stress test introduced as part of the revised B-20 guidelines, refinance restrictions and much more.
by Yvonne von Jena | October 11, 2018
Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is signaling that it will be taking more action to address mortgage approvals that rely on the equity in the property at the expense of assessing the borrower’s ability to pay the loan.
by Yvonne von Jena | October 10, 2018
It’s just about here. We are now one week away from cannabis being legalized in Canada, which includes the ability to grow cannabis at home if allowed by the given jurisdiction. Here is some of the latest information that you need to know.
by Yvonne von Jena | October 5, 2018
This week, the Minister of Finance Bill Morneau launched an Advisory Committee on Open Banking. As many countries around the world have either launched or are launching open banking, it will be interesting to see if open banking comes to Canada also.
by Yvonne von Jena | October 2, 2018
In his most recent MacroMemo, RBC Global Asset Management chief economist Eric Lascelles, notes that the unusual weakness experienced by Canada’s housing market in the past year is likely a recalibration rather than the beginning of the end of a housing boom. However, he continues to look for rather more sluggish growth, pockets of housing weakness, and a variety of other factors to continue to impact the market.
by Yvonne von Jena | September 28, 2018
According to RBC’s latest Housing Trends and Affordability report, its affordability measure and home ownership costs continued to deteriorate due to higher mortgage rates.
by Yvonne von Jena | September 19, 2018
TREB has agreed to allow real estate companies to post GTA home sales data on their password-protected websites. Beginning Wednesday, September 19, home buyers and sellers can now access sold prices and other real estate data which were previously not publicly available.
by Yvonne von Jena | September 12, 2018
In late August, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) lost its appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada concluding seven years of litigation with the Competition Bureau. In deciding not to hear TREB's appeal of a lower court ruling, the Supreme Court in effect sided with the Competition Bureau and its request that TREB release data about houses that it had kept off listings, including sold prices.
by Yvonne von Jena | September 6, 2018
Some people are willing to spend more for smart home technologies, including smart thermostats, leak detection sensors and home security trends. These features can make a home easier to sell, specifically to some select audiences. So popular are smart homes that 80 million smart home devices were delivered globally in 2016 and almost 435 million in 2017.