Canadian Mortgage Market: Things are Calming Down
Occasionally, I get requests from readers to add a little bit of coverage of the Canadian mortgage market. And, of course, I am happy to oblige our friends to the north with a little bit of news.
Things have been interesting in Canada lately. Even though the Bank of Canada participated in the global rate cut yesterday, the economy overall hasn’t suffered as much as the American economy. (Although the global economic slowdown is starting to affect commodities prices, and those are important to Canada.) Whether that means the big fall is still to come, I don’t know. But I do know that there are some reports that the Canadian housing market is offering some good opportunities. MBN Mortgage reports on the Canadian mortgage market:
In 2008, the rate of price growth should drop about 50% from last year for both new and resale homes across Canada. The return to historically normal levels will give consumer incomes a chance to catch up and buyers should feel less pressure and more opportunity to explore all the choices and financing options available to them.
“Now we’re seeing a calmer market,” said Peter Vukanovich, president of Genworth Financial Canada. “That translates into better opportunities for first-time homebuyers to make an informed decision.”
After some serious jumps in home prices, things are mellowing out. Home prices are falling into a more affordable range, but they aren’t crashing. And, unlike in America where the credit market squeeze has been causing higher mortgage rates in the past few weeks, things in the Canadian mortgage market have been much more measured. And yesterday’s cut is likely to help even more — especially for those who already have variable rate mortgages.
Can you think of any other news from the Canadian housing market?
Tags: Canadian mortgage market, mortgage market, home mortgage loan, housing market,
Canadian housing, mortgage loan blog, mortgage
