One of the ongoing public narratives about the Canadian economy is that Canadians are forever exposing themselves to the increased risk of personal debt. However, such a narrative doesn’t tell the whole story, in part because there are many forms of debt, as well as many different ways...
Canada’s real-estate and mortgage sectors have been booming now for years. One reason for this has been the relatively low interest rates offered by Canada’s central bank and, as an extension, the large chartered banks, as well as other lenders.
However, there is some reason to...
In Canada’s real-estate and mortgage markets, there continues to be a lot of talk about a “bubble” that’s ready to burst at any moment now. The problem, however, is that this speculation about a bubble has been around for the better part of a decade now, and these warnings have...
Canada’s mortgage industry isn’t as black and white as many people are led to believe. This fact is even more apparent in today’s financial landscape, given the fact that both mortgage borrowers and mortgage investors are looking for more alternatives than ever.
So, in a sea of...
Do you know about private mortgages?
One of the greater-kept secrets in the Canadian lending sector is the private mortgages market. Private mortgages account for billions of dollars in alternative sources of mortgage financing in Canada, yet the hold that traditional banks and lenders...
A mortgage investment corporation, or MIC (pronounced “mick”), is an underappreciated financial entity that exists for the benefit of mortgage lenders, investors, borrowers, brokers — you name it.
There are various reasons why MICs are not as well known as they should be. However...
The perception of mortgages has certainly changed over time. In fact, the way we perceive loans in general has changed, too. At one time, most people would never have dreamed of buying anything with borrowed money, or even credit. Now, concepts such as interest rates, loans, mortgages...
There has been much debate surrounding Canada’s construction market, for a number of reasons. Canada survived the global housing bubble relatively intact. While the United States housing recovery has been very slow, in Canada, the rebound happened very quickly, and the market has for a...
Regulation has become an important topic in Canada’s overall financial sector. To begin with, Canada’s banking regulations are largely seen as having saved the country from the worst of the global financial meltdown, housing bubble, and economic recession.
There was a time in the...
