Mortgages by Barbara Singh

01/11/2025

2 br 2 bath condo London ON under $300k https://sites.odyssey3d.ca/155kentstreet?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0fH24XEpUhjuvheIB0PHOqwsSBL54ONly5izgxqeChYbycGjcDE-Y79dc_aem_EaEdA-gVQVaNtt29WvrkXw

155 Kent Street - London, ON N6A 5N7 -

12/29/2024

Check out this very spacious condo in prime Mississauga location.
Contact Listing Agent, Nasir Manji for more details

Property Description: 4235 Sherwoodtowne Blvd, Unit 702, Mississauga, ON L4Z 1W3 Welcome to this bright and spacious 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo in the highly sought-after area of Sherwoodtowne Blvd, Mississauga. Situated in a well-maintained building, Unit 702 offers an ideal blend of comfort, conv...

12/09/2024

Condo in prime Mississauga, large unit. Contact Listing Agent, Nasir Manji

Great large condo compared to the newer condos, this unit boasts approximately 1030 sq ft of living space, well managed condo, many seniors and professionals as your neighbours, quiet and tranquil lifestyle, Bathroom set up for seniors for walk in shower with wide opening, unobstructed views with fl...

10/16/2024

Beautiful property in Burlington.
Contact Listing Agent, Nasir Manji -416 565 7653, [email protected]

06/24/2024

Check out this beautiful property!
Property is the main residence for the owners, however it can also be a recreational home.
It is a beauty.

11/21/2023

By Fergal McAlinden
21 Nov 2023

Canada’s inflation rate drops again

Canada’s inflation rate fell to 3.1% in October, still above the Bank of Canada’s target rate but down notably from its September reading of 3.8%.

That slowdown was caused mainly by plummeting gas prices, with the cost of fuel at the pump falling by 7.8% compared with the same time last year. When gas price fluctuations were taken out of the equation, the consumer price index (CPI) grew by 3.6% last month, Statistics Canada said, down slightly from 3.7% in September.

Unsurprisingly, skyrocketing mortgage interest and rent costs continue to contribute strongly to year-over-year price growth, while grocery prices also saw another big yearly increase.

Rent costs rose at a faster clip in October than the prior month, by 8.2% compared with 7.3% in September, with Nova Scotia seeing a double-digit increase and Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec all recording yearly rent increases of just under 10%.

Prices for services were also higher in October, StatCan said, rising by 4.6% as travel tours, property taxes and other special charges posted a noted uptick.

What does the latest inflation news mean for the Bank of Canada?
As inflation surged in 2022, the Bank of Canada introduced a spate of interest-rate hikes aimed at tamping down annual price growth. The inflation rate hit a 39-year high of 8.1% in June of that year, but has ticked down substantially since then.

Although inflation has yet to fall in line with the central bank’s 2% target, it has hit pause on further rate hikes in its last two announcements in a seeming indication that it believes the economy is slowing enough to justify no further action.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) economist Claire Fan said in the bank’s response to October’s inflation figures that there appeared scant prospect of the Bank of Canada having to change tack and begin raising rates again.

“Ongoing signs of deterioration in consumer spending and labour market conditions support our outlook for inflation to keep moderating in the quarters ahead,” Fan wrote. “We continue to expect the BoC is done with rate hikes, and for them to cautiously pivot to cuts over the latter half of 2024.”

The Bank is scheduled to make its final interest rate announcement of the year on December 6, with StatCan to release CPI data for this month on December 19.

11/04/2023

Perhaps some relief coming our way.....

Experts predict lower mortgage rates next week as bond yields plunge

Mortgage shoppers and those with upcoming renewals may see some rate relief next week thanks to a steep drop in bond yields.

This week alone, the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield slid over 30 basis points to 3.79%. It’s now down more than 60 bps—or 0.60%—from its recent high of 4.42% reached in early October.

Rate watchers say that should translate into some rate relief by next week given that bond yields typically lead fixed mortgage rate pricing. However, don’t expect any rate drops to match the decline in yields.

“The old saying is: [rates take the] elevator on the way up and the stairs on the way down,” Ron Butler of Butler Mortgage told CMT.

“Fixed rates will start to fall next week, likely 20 to 40 bps over the next two weeks, depending on the term,” he added.

Ryan Sims, a TMG The Mortgage Group broker and former investment banker, gave a similar forecast.

“Rates will come down for mortgages, but not nearly as much as they should,” he said. That’s because lenders and mortgage providers are likely to keep risk premiums baked into their pricing given the potential for an economic downturn in the near term.

“Banks have proven in the past that at the first hint of problems they will not hesitate to raise spreads to cushion the blow,” Sims noted. “We last witnessed this in March of 2020 when interest rates plummeted in a week, and 5-year fixed mortgage rates went up by 30 bps.”

He said a similar scenario played out in 2008 during the Financial Crisis when the spread over bond yields grew from about 200 bps to 325 bps in order to compensate for the added market risk.

Markets are moving up calls for rate cuts
What’s driving this latest plunge in yields? In short, each new release of economic data is pointing to a weakening economy, and growing signs that no further rate hikes are on the horizon by both the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve.

In Canada, we’ve seen headline inflation continue to fall, a slowdown in consumer spending, household credit growth and housing activity, and most recently weakening employment data and a rise in the unemployment rate.

This is all having an impact on rate forecasts. Following today’s release of October employment figures, markets went from pricing in a 10% chance of a rate hike at the December 6 Bank of Canada meeting to a 7% chance of a rate cut.

While most big bank forecasts don’t expect the Bank of Canada to begin cutting rates by the middle of 2024, markets are betting a weak economy will force the central bank’s hand a little sooner.

Bond markets are pricing in 83% odds of a quarter-point rate cut by March 2024, and 81% odds of 50 bps worth of cuts by June.

“There is no scenario priced in now that shows any rate hikes at all,” Sims notes. “It looks like it is straight downhill from here, although timing will be the issue.”

Earlier this week, Deputy BoC Governor Carolyn Rogers confirmed the central bank could start cutting interest rates before inflation reaches its target rate of 2%, which is officially expected by mid-2025, according to the Bank’s latest Monetary Policy Report.

While testifying this week before the House of Commons finance committee with BoC Governor Tiff Macklem, Rogers said monetary policy is forward-looking and that “we don’t need to wait until inflation is all the way back to 2%.”

“If we get signs that we can be confident that inflation is coming down and will remain down, then we would start thinking about lowering interest rates, but we’re just not there yet,” she said.

10/25/2023

Some good news......

By Fergal McAlinden
25 Oct 2023

The Bank of Canada has left its policy interest rate unchanged in its latest decision, opting not to raise rates further amid signs that the national economy is beginning to slow.

The central bank announced this morning that it was holding that trendsetting interest rate steady at 5.0%, the second time in a row it has kept rates where they are as inflation continues to moderate and economic growth remains largely flat.

In its statement accompanying the decision, the Bank said it was prepared to raise the policy rate further if required, emphasizing its concern that “progress towards price stability is slow and inflationary risks have increased.”

Overall inflation slowed more dramatically in September than markets had expected, to 3.8%, while gross domestic product (GDP) growth also moderated noticeably towards the end of the summer.

Despite its stated concern over inflation, those factors evidently helped convince the central, which has already raised interest rates 10 times to the tune of 475 basis points since March 2022, that its strategy aimed at tamping down inflation and cooling the economy was proving largely effective.

Move comes as little surprise to markets
Markets had widely expected the Bank to announce no change in this month’s announcement, its penultimate scheduled decision on interest rates for 2023. Odds of an October hike plunged from 43% to 13% on the back of the latest inflation data, according to Reuters.

The move isn’t expected to have a significant impact on Canada’s housing market, with activity having already slowed considerably since the beginning of the central bank’s rate-hiking path.

Ahead of the Bank decision, RE/MAX Canada president Christopher Alexander told Canadian Mortgage Professional a pause “isn’t going to sway activity one way or another.”

Current high interest rates, he said, have already weighed down heavily on demand and pushed many would-be buyers out of the market.

The Bank of Canada is scheduled to announce its final decision on interest rates for 2023 on December 6.

10/20/2023

By Abigail Adriatico
19 Oct 2023

Deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland has announced new measures that she said would ensure that banks were treating their Canadian consumers fairly, aimed at making banking more affordable as part of the government’s efforts to reduce inflation and stabilize prices.

“Whether it is ensuring Canadians have access to high-quality, affordable banking options and are not subjected to unfair fees, or making sure they receive the mortgage relief they need, our government will continue working to ensure Canadians are treated fairly by their banks,” said Freeland.

The measures include efforts to protect Canadians against rising mortgage payments, enhancing low-cost banking options, lowering non-sufficient fund (NSF) fees, and ensuring that there will be an impartial advocate whenever consumers have complaints with their bank.

The new measures set in place
Freeland said that she had met with the CEOs of the largest banks in Canada and outlined her expectations regarding their compliance with the government’s new mortgage guideline which was issued by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC).

The deputy prime minister also stated that the government will be taking action in securing the enhanced low-cost and no-cost account options from the banks in the country.

Freeland explained that the FCAC was directed to work with the banks to improve features of low-cost accounts, expand no-cost account eligibility to more Canadians, and add more to the enhanced affordable banking options to more financial institutions.

Junk fees such as the NSF fees charged by banks will also be suppressed, with those measures typically affecting Canadians will low incomes. NSF fees normally ranged from $45 to $50 and were charged to consumers if they had insufficient funds in their bank accounts to cover a cheque or pre-authorized debit.

With the directive aimed at lowering NSF fees already issued, an update regarding further actions on junk fees will be announced in the Fall Economic Statement.

The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) had been designated as the single external complaints body for the banking sector in support of Canadians who may have been unfairly treated by their banks. Prior to that, the country had two approved external complaints bodies that dealt with complaints and banks were allowed to choose to which one they belonged.

The OBSI will have the jurisdiction to resolve complaints at all Canadian banks beginning November 1, 2024.

10/18/2023

Article by:
Fergal McAlinden
18 Oct 2023

Banking giant Scotiabank has announced its intention to reduce its global workforce by around 3%, a decision it said was driven by changes to customers’ day-to-day banking preferences, efforts to streamline processes, and growing digitization and automation.

The bank said the changes would contribute to a hit of around $590 million after tax to its fourth-quarter earnings, with a planned writedown of an investment in Bank of Xi’an, a Chinese financial institution, also accounted for in that figure.

Severance provisions and a restructuring charge as a result of those workforce cuts will make up around $247 million of Q4 losses, Scotiabank said, while costs of $63 million will accrue as a result of the consolidation and exit of certain real estate premises and service contracts.

Bank of Xi’an’s market value has remained below Scotiabank’s carrying value “for a prolonged period,” according to the news release, resulting in impairment charges of $280 million.

Scotiabank said it would be providing further details upon the release of its Q4 earnings, scheduled for November 28 of this year.

10/17/2023

Good news!

Article by:
By Fergal McAlinden
17 Oct 2023

Canada’s inflation rate ticked down slightly in September, falling to 3.8% compared with a 4% reading the previous month.

Statistics Canada said on Tuesday that the broad-based deceleration had been driven mainly by lower grocery prices and costs of durable goods and travel-related services – although the price of gasoline surged, spiking by 7.5% last month.

Mortgage interest and rent costs were by far the biggest contributors to the 12-month change in the consumer price index (CPI). The cost of servicing a mortgage compared with the previous September rose by 30.6%, with rent increasing at a yearly rate of 7.3%.

During a Monday speech at Mortgage Professionals Canada’s (MPC’s) national conference, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal reiterated his view that price growth related to mortgage interest and rent payments are actually disinflationary, serving to curb consumers’ spending appetite.

Without factoring in huge year-over-year mortgage payment increases, Tal argued, the Bank of Canada is much closer to hitting its 2% inflation target than recent figures indicate.

Other factors behind September’s inflation reading
While annual grocery price growth for the month slowed compared with August, it remained well above headline inflation, coming in at 5.8%. The cost of air transportation, meanwhile, plunged by 21.1% on a yearly basis, a trend that StatCan said coincided with a “gradual increase in flights” offered by airlines during the prior 12 months.

September’s big jump in gasoline costs, meanwhile, was caused principally by a base-year effect, according to StatCan, with an increase in the global supply of crude oil having resulted in a sizeable drop (7.4%) in gas prices during the same month last year.

10/13/2023

By Fergal McAlinden
13 Oct 2023

The way Canadians work has transformed profoundly over the past three and a half years – but it may be premature to sound the death knell now for the office space.

The onset of public health measures after the arrival of COVID-19 in March 2020 heralded a work-from-home revolution that saw millions of Canadians transition to remote-working arrangements as downtown cores emptied and offices shuttered.

As it stands, few companies have since mandated employees to return to attending the office five days a week, with continuing hybrid and remote schedules causing a ripple of unease across the commercial real estate sector about the future of the office space.

That said, a shift had already been underway even prior to the pandemic – and emerging trends suggest there’s reason for optimism where the office market is concerned, according to Marie-France Benoit (pictured top), principal, director market intelligence, Canada, at commercial real estate advisory firm Avison Young.

She told Canadian Mortgage Professional that technological advances had begun to transform Canada’s workplace culture well before the arrival of COVID-19.

Workplace changes were underway even before the pandemic
“Everyone is comfortable now doing videoconferencing, working from anywhere. And that started with Wi-Fi – it wasn’t COVID,” Benoit said. “Having Wi-Fi everywhere made it possible to work everywhere. So that started before COVID, and we’re not going back to not being mobile workers.

“This is another long-term trend to look at. I must say that I know it sounds weird, but right now I’m more optimistic about the office market than I have been since Q2 2020.”

That’s because while many companies are mandating that their employees work from the office for at least part of the working week, Canadians are also showing a growing appetite to blend remote work with some in-person collaboration, Benoit said.

“Companies are asking people to come back and we talk about those who don’t want to come back – but there’s a lot of people who do want to come back. We don’t talk about them,” she explained.

Rather than dying out, the office space is seeing its purpose shift, according to Benoit. Instead of being a place where managers can keep track of their employees and maximize efficiency, the office is increasingly viewed as an environment for collaboration and teamwork – even if attendance five days a week isn’t required for that.

“I see the streets busier than last year and the year before,” Benoit said. “It’s starting to feel like normal. Hybrid is here to stay – it’s going to have an impact on office space.

“A lot of large tenants are reducing their footprints and using the technology for having less square footage per employee – but you still need the mothership. [Companies] still need a place to convene, and a lot of companies use office premises as an incarnation of the culture, a physical expression of the company culture of how they treat the employees.”

Top banks leading the charge in return-to-office efforts
Recent months have seen some major companies in Canada, including leading banks, adopt a stricter approach office-working requirements.

Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the country’s largest lender, reportedly mandated either three or four days in the office each week per employee starting at the beginning of May, while National Bank indicated its employees should spend at least 40% of their time working from the office.

Throughout the year to date, the nation’s largest financial institutions have steadily ramped up provisions for loan losses, mainly on their commercial portfolios with uncertainty about the future of the office space seen as a key reason for those moves.

Part of the challenge for companies across the country, according to Benoit, is the task of cultivating vibrant and attractive office space to increase the appeal for employees who have grown accustomed to work-from-home arrangements.

“Even if it’s in smaller space, it’s not really rent that’s an issue anymore,” she said. “It’s more like the cost of making that space beautiful and compelling, and make people want to go back.”