Found 24 blog entries tagged as affordability.

What is the Mortgage Stress Test in Canada

A common goal for many Canadians upon completing their education and gaining employment is purchasing their first home. Home ownership is, after all, the Canadian dream. While it’s general knowledge that saving money for a down payment is the first step to eventually purchasing a home, many are not aware of the mortgage stress test. So, what is the mortgage stress test in Canada, anyway?

To put it simply, the mortgage stress test is a mortgage qualifier tool used to determine if the borrower would still be able to continue making mortgage payments, should they lose their job, undergo some other type of financial strain, or if interest rates were to rise.

Before being approved for a mortgage on a home, the borrower must…

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JANUARY 11, 2022

Canada’s central bank quietly updated its real estate affordability index. It wasn’t good news. The Housing Affordability Index (HAI) made a big jump in Q3 2021. Maintained by the Bank of Canada (BOC), the HAI shows the share of income required to service a mortgage on a home. Low rates are no longer helping affordability, but fueling prices that outpace wages. As a result, affordability has now reached the worst level since the Great Recession.

The Bank Of Canada Housing Affordability Index

The BoC Housing Affordability Index shows the share of income needed for housing costs. More specifically, the share of disposable income an average family would use. Housing costs are defined as mortgage payments and utilities.…

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Photo: Spiroview Inc. / Adobe Stock

Canada’s youngest generation of potential homebuyers say they are pretty optimistic about owning a home at some point in their life, but others have moved on from the prospects of ever possessing a single-family property.

According to a new report released today by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, 75 per cent of Generation Z urban adults (those born between 1993 and 2011) are likely to buy and own a primary residence in their lifetime. A little under half (49 per cent) of respondents said that they “very likely” to do so, with 11 per cent stating that they already own a home.

The report, which was conducted by Mustel Group, surveyed 1,502 Gen Z Canadians who are located in the Vancouver, Calgary,…

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Photo: Spiroview Inc. / Adobe Stock

Home prices in prominent Canadian markets ramped up last month, but the acceleration we’re seeing now is expected to ease off by the second half of next year as these markets become more balanced.

In an RBC Economics Thought Leadership report published this week, senior RBC economist Robert Hogue said that property prices “reaccelerated further” in major markets during November thanks to strong demand and dwindling inventories.

In the Greater Toronto Area, “aggressive” bidding drove the composite MLS Home Price Index (HPI) up 3.9 per cent from October to $1,173,000. Over the past two months, GTA prices have climbed 2.2 per cent and 4.3 percent, resulting in a $114,000 increase over a three-month period.…

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