The focus of these surveys was to gather Canadians’ opinions of the mortgage industry. The report includes specific questions on experiences with their mortgage professional as well as information and feedback from industry members.
The survey results were presented by Maritz Research at Mortgage Forum 2011 in Toronto.
Click here to review the entire report.
While the Canadian economy appears to be weathering the economic storm with surprising ease, Canadian consumers are beginning to show signs of distress. Just last week, Statistics Canada announced a net worth drop of $4,600 per household in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Canadians continue to borrow and buy on credit. Household debt per capita is up by $600 from the second quarter for a total of nearly $46,100 or 152.98%.
To put this into perspective, the American banks encountered trouble when the ratio of debt to disposable income hit 160%. Canadians are flirting with disaster if indebtedness levels continue to rise. Continue reading
The seventh annual State of the Residential Mortgage MarketĀ report, conducted by CAAMP (the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals) has found that consumers are worried about debt. The report, which included survey data from 2,000 Canadians (half of which were homeowners), asked participants to what extent they agree with various statements based on a 10-point scale: a response of 10 indicated complete agreement. The statement, “as a whole, Canadians have too much debt,” received the the highest degree of agreement, scoring an average rating of 7.98 out of 10.
While debt remains a major cause of concern, there is a widespread opinion that Canadian real estate is a good long term investment. Consumers still feel that a mortgage is a “good debt” and very few regret taking on the size of mortgage that they did. However, there is still a very big perception that Canadian homeowners are largely unprepared for the financial obligations of purchasing a home. Continue reading
The Canadian housing market showed exceptional resilience in 2011, according to Re/Max’s annual housing marketing outlook. Published early last week, the report states that an estimated 460,000 homes are expected to be sold this year, a significant increase over last year’s 44,010 properties.
Re/Max credits low interest rates for the housing market’s success, along with tight inventory levels and increased urban demand. And while the European debt crisis and worsening American recession continue to plague the global marketplace, it appears to have had little effect on the Canadian housing market. The country’s economic foundations actually grew in the past year, thanks to the addition of more than 200,000 jobs and slow but steady GDP growth. According to Re/Max’s report, economists are already looking forward to increased growth and renewed investment in 2012. Continue reading
The Bank of Canada has opted to freeze rates for the 11th consecutive time, maintaining the 1.0% interest rate this morning.
The stay is consistent with Governor Mark Carney’s statements from October that forecasted no changes for the foreseeable future. The current Chairman of the Financial Stability Board insists that the Bank will remain flexible, in light of world and domestic future developments (specifically the never-ending European debt and banking crisis). Continue reading