Equifax says mortgage-holders in B.C., Ontario, increasingly missed payments during Q4

Consumers in Ontario and British Columbia increasingly missed payments on mortgages and credit cards in the fourth quarter of 2023, Equifax Canada said. The fourth quarter saw a continuation of what’s been happening for a while now as the impacts of higher interest rates and inflation continue to weigh on consumers, said Rebecca Oakes, vice-president … Read more

Canadians Are Buying $12,000 Yurts To Avoid Ridiculous Rental Prices

Since 2020, the house prices in Canada have skyrocketed. Major Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Barrie and District, Victoria and Toronto, have seen housing costs rise by more than $200,000. In August 2023, the average house price in Vancouver measured at $1,208,400, up by a huge $261,800 since August 2020. In just three years, Barrie and … Read more

Bank of Canada says government efforts to curb housing crisis will help ‘gradually’

The Bank of Canada says record levels of immigration are driving up the cost of housing and recent government efforts to cut the number of non-permanent residents and encourage home building will help lower housing costs, but “only gradually.”  “In the short term any increase in population, particularly in an environment of constrained supply, is going … Read more

Healey advances $4B affordable housing bill, ‘highest priority’ of her administration

Gov. Maura Healey moved an enormous $4.1 billion bill to tackle a housing shortage decades in the making to a Joint Committee on Housing hearing Thursday morning, doubling down on the urgency of the “issue of our time” following her State of the Commonwealth speech the night before. “This is our highest priority as an … Read more

Surge in newcomers putting pressure on inflation via housing demand: BoC official

The recent surge in newcomers is adding to inflation through housing demand, a senior Bank of Canada official said Thursday, warning rental and home prices could continue to rise without a boost to housing supply. In a speech in Windsor, Ont., deputy governor Toni Gravelle acknowledged many of the benefits coming from this rise in immigration, … Read more