Well it’s that time again when the Bank of Canada considers doing something with its overnight target rate, the benchmark interest rate that affects interest rates, directly and indirectly, throughout the country. The Bank’s overnight target rate is currently one per cent, low by historical standards although it has been lower dropping to a record […]

If there’s one plaintive cry you tend to hear again and again from credit counsellors, it’s this: “If only our clients had come to see us sooner.” By the time many people actually ask for help, their debt problems are so huge that their credit ratings are in tatters and some solutions may no longer […]

Low interest rates making home ownership slightly more affordable By The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press – 2 hours 25 minutes ago By The Canadian Press OTTAWA – A new report finds low interest rates are keeping Canadian house prices within reach of homebuyers in many markets. The Royal Bank’s quarterly report on housing trends, released […]

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Canadians with a mortgage hope to be mortgage-free by the time they reach age 65, but one-third (33%) of older Canadians (those over the age of 55) have 16 or more years left on their mortgage term, according to the latest RBC Housing Snapshot poll.  “Canadians want to be mortgage-free as […]

The Bank of Canada understands that targeting inflation is still its No 1 job, and that there are limits to its ability to keep borrowing costs on hold to buffer against economic shocks or trouble in the financial system, Governor Mark Carney said today. In his first remarks on his approach to inflation-control since the […]

The landscape of the Canadian housing industry has changed dramatically over the past several years – physically and intrinsically. Land becomes a premium, particularly in larger metropolitan centres, lifestyle and housing priorities adjust, Baby Boomers seek en masse to downsize – often uptown – and all these factors come together to create an explosion in […]

As the nail biter in Europe continues, two economists are predicting the Bank of Canada will move to cut rates in a big way next year. Sheryl King, an Economist at Bank of America Merril Lynch, said in a note that the volatility hitting Europe and the risk of damage to the global economy means […]

Reports suggest the average family spends $700 on xmas presents per year. For an canadian earning $20/hr full time that means they will have to work an extra 7 days to be able to cover that expense- almost a third of a month! If they don’t then that $700 on a credit card may actually […]

Good Afternoon, I realized recently that there is still confusion around exactly what we do as mortgage professionals and the services that we offer. With today’s uncertain economic climate, the record debt levels Canadians now have, and the interest rates at their lowest point in history, we are fielding more questions than ever before. I […]

Multi-family market a ‘safe haven’ for real-estate investors       By Ray Turchansky, For Postmedia News November 14, 2011     Volatile stock markets and minuscule returns from fixed income have investors looking at global real estate. But rather than single-family residential property, the hot ticket these days is multiple-family dwellings. At a luncheon […]