“Our decision to tighten underwriting standards was driven by economic systemic concerns,” said Siddall, the former Goldman Sachs banker who has run the country’s main housing finance agency since 2014.

“There is no doubt that we have willingly chosen to forego some profitable business that our competitors would find appealing,” he said. “CMHC’s purview extends beyond our narrow commercial interests to macroeconomic impacts and there is a dark economic underbelly in this business that I want to expose.”

Some retail landlords are starting to chop rents to help tenants survive as the coronavirus pandemic enters its fifth month and a flood of retailers close stores and seek creditor protection.

Vancouver’s housing market spiked in July, with sales and prices climbing, as record low mortgage rates and limited supply whipped up competition after a brief slowdown from the coronavirus pandemic.

The abrupt changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic are prompting many Toronto-area residents to make some urgent decisions about where and how they want to live.

The alternative mortgage lender’s deferrals fell from 9,903 mortgages worth more than $3.9-billion as of April 30 to 2,698 loans with a combined balance of $1.3-billion by July 31, according to second-quarter financial disclosures Home Capital released on Thursday. Most borrowers whose deferrals expired returned to making normal payments or restructured their loans to allow them to make lower payments over a longer period.

“You can see from the results we are reporting today that people still want to own homes, and not even a global health crisis has changed that,” said Yousry Bissada, Home Capital’s CEO, during a conference call with analysts and investors.

Mr. Anastasio was an associate of John Aquino, Bondfield’s then-CEO, who the monitor has also alleged took part in the scheme. In addition to $2-million in proceeds that allegedly flowed from the phony companies to Mr. Anastasio, forensic auditors also allege they have traced $5.2-million that flowed to Mr. Aquino from 2014 to 2019, court records show. For his part, Mr. Aquino, who was terminated from his position at Bondfield in 2018, has denied any wrongdoing, saying in an affidavit, “I am implicated in a matter that I believe is without merit.”

Mortgage experts expect the Bank of Canada to cut its benchmark five-year mortgage rate to 4.79 per cent from the current 4.94 per cent as soon as this Wednesday, as the majority of the big Canadian banks now have a five-year posted rate of 4.79 per cent. The central bank sets its benchmark according to the rate that appears most frequently among the six biggest banks.

Canadian home building spiked in July, as developers broke new ground on condos in major cities and oil-producing regions, marking the second straight month of robust activity after work stoppages from the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Canada is facing a lumber shortage, with builders likely paying more for the material than ever before.

Canadian home sales and prices surged to a record high in July, as buyers flooded the market and took advantage of low mortgage rates after the coronavirus pandemic briefly slowed activity in the spring.

U.S. home builder confidence rose for a third straight month in August to match its highest level ever as record-low interest rates spur buyer traffic, data released on Monday showed in the latest indication the housing market is a rare bright spot in the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Real estate is hot enough in the COVID-19 era that they’re feeling the heat in Saint John, N.B.

Canadian home prices rose in July, led by the Quebec City and Ottawa-Gatineau markets, though it was the smallest July advance in 15 years, data showed on Thursday, confirming the slowing of the housing market in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada’s banking regulator is rolling back two emergency programs introduced at the beginning of the pandemic, including a crucial measure that made it easier for banks to offer loan payment deferrals to clients.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dampen economic activity across Canada, building supply and home builders’ organizations are advocating for a potential solution: home renovation tax credits. Member associations of the Building Materials Council of Canada, each representing different regions of the country, have been lobbying the federal and some provincial governments to instate a home renovation tax credit similar to the 2009 tax credit implemented by the Harper government.

As fixed-rate mortgage rate offerings tumble, those with variable loans thinking about switching over and locking in need to consider more than just the rate, experts say.

Toronto’s housing market hit new record highs in August, with sales and prices spiking, as low mortgage rates fuelled competition for homes despite economic uncertainty brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“But the bigger story might be that Covid-19 is now prompting more people to sell,” the report said, noting that new listings surged in urban centres such as Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

Rental housing markets across Canada are seeing weaker demand this fall as some postsecondary students pivot to online learning and stay in their hometowns, resulting in a spate of empty bedrooms and mounting losses for landlords.

Fortress Real Developments Inc. has agreed to pay $250,000 for violating Ontario mortgage rules in the first direct penalty against the troubled construction finance company.

If you’ve been following the news lately, it will come as no surprise that there have been numerous writers raising the possibility of a tax on the principal residences of Canadians. It seems to have started with a report that Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has provided a $250,000 grant to researchers at the University of British Columbia, where the focus is on housing wealth and inequality, according to the CMHC. The project is considered the first one sponsored by the Crown corporation as part of the Liberal government’s National Housing Strategy.

Canadian mortgage debt rose in May at the fastest annual rate in three years, boosted by a jump in property sales and record levels of mortgage payment deferrals due to the coronavirus pandemic, data from the national housing agency showed.

As the Bank of Canada fretted over bloated household debts for the better part of the past decade, its biggest fear was that stretched-to-the-limit mortgage holders would collapse under the weight of the next major economic shock.

If you follow the housing debates in Toronto and Vancouver, you’ll have undoubtedly heard the claim that the affordability challenges facing both cities are the result of supply problems. Common complaints include a lack of new housing, burdensome regulation and flawed zoning.

Housing starts surged to 262,396 units in August on an annualized basis, up 6.9% from an already elevated 245,425 units a month earlier, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said Wednesday in Ottawa. The highest monthly total since September 2007 was powered by new construction in Toronto and Vancouver, particularly multiple units like condos.