OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s annual inflation rate slipped to a relatively tame 2.3 percent in January, bucking a trend which has seen several major nations struggle to keep rising prices under control. The increase, which matched market expectations, compares with the 2.4 percent recorded in December. It also means the Bank of Canada will be […]

Canadian families’ average debt has hit six figures for the first time — and what they owe now amounts to one and a half times what they make, according to the latest family finance checkup from the Vanier Institute of the Family. The Ottawa-based think-tank’s 12th annual report, released Thursday, finds that average family debt, […]

Why do mortgage rates rise quickly but fall like molasses? That’s the question posed by an article in the latest issue of the Bank of Canada Review, and it’s a good one. The report, by Jason Allen of the central bank’s financial stability department, notes that the big banks that dominate the market tend to […]

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says annual inflation edged down one-tenth of a point to 2.3 per cent in January. The agency says energy prices, particularly the cost of gasoline, as well as car insurance, home replacement costs and restaurant meals contributed to keeping inflation above the Bank of Canada’s ideal two-per-cent level. But the central […]

OTTAWA – Canada’s national housing agency says the pace of new-home construction will stabilize in 2011 and 2012 after trending lower at the end of last year. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s predicts between 157,000 and 192,000 new housing units will be built this year, with the number remaining virtually the same in 2012. In […]

OTTAWA — New home prices edged up 0.1% in December, according to Statistics Canada, with Winnipeg leading the gains. Economists had expected the federal agency’s new home price index to rise 0.2% in December, following a 0.3% advance in the previous month. The index showed a 1.1% gain in Winnipeg, as well as a 0.3% […]

TORONTO – There was a surprising drop in the amount borrowed on credit cards by Canadians during the holiday-laden fourth quarter, but overall non-mortgage debt went up substantially across the country, a credit analysis firm reported Wednesday. TransUnion said average total debt per Canadian consumer, excluding mortgages, was $25,709 in the fourth quarter of 2010 […]

Here we go, again. The economy is generating more jobs, a handful of banks raise mortgage rates and all of a sudden you’re being advised to lock-in your mortgage before the bank doors slam shut. In fact, some say you’d better hurry-up and buy a house now before mortgage rates go so high you’re locked-out […]

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is taking the unusual step of publicly challenging its critics, defending its reputation and its business model amid mounting calls for change. On Monday, the Crown corporation e-mailed to the news media copies of letters that its vice-president had sent to three think tanks which recently published research reports critical […]

That is Taco Bell’s slogan.  It’s meant to remind us that fast food doesn’t end with hamburgers. Tacos are pretty tasty in their own right. In the lending world, the closest equivalent to “the bun” is the 5-year fixed mortgage. Like hamburgers are to fast food, the 5-year fixed is to mortgages. It’s been the […]