Baby Boomers still dealing with outstanding mortgages

The Vancouver Sun

A survey done by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce showed 46 percent of respondents ages 46 to 64 still had outstanding mortgages…See all stories on this topic »

Housing prices set to fall: CIBC

Vancouver Sun- A new report from one of the country’s major banks says house prices in Canada are sitting 14 per cent over their “fair” value.

The report from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce says the average price of a home has risen 23 per cent since reaching its cyclical low in January 2009.

British Columbia and Alberta homes are the most overpriced, at 25 per cent above their fair value. CIBC establishes what it calls fair value from market fundamentals that include income, rent and demographic changes.

“This doesn’t mean that house prices are going to crash tomorrow,” said Benjamin Tal, senior economist with the bank. “I’m saying they probably will go down by five per cent or 10 per cent…”

Housing prices set to fall: CIBC

Five-Year Yields Hit Highest Since October 2008: Canada Credit – BusinessWeek

Bloomberg- Canada’s five-year bond yields rose to the highest level since October 2008 as banks hedged mortgages and the nation’s fixed-income market caught up to declines in U.S. Treasuries.

Canada’s home buyers are stepping up borrowing as they seek to beat pending changes to mortgage regulations and increases in interest rates. Banks that issue mortgages protect their balance sheet by selling similar-maturity securities in the secondary bond market or by making swap transactions.

“Banks are hedging seasonal mortgage flows, which is weighing on the five-year sector,” said Mohammed Ahmed, a rates strategist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Toronto. “Banks are receiving a fixed-rate asset and to hedge that, they typically pay the fixed-rate in swaps, or sell cash bonds…”

Five-Year Yields Hit Highest Since October 2008: Canada Credit – BusinessWeek

Bank of Canada likes prospects for recovery

The Globe and Mail-  The Bank of Canada  is expressing greater confidence that the global recovery will pick up steam and endure, while warning that unemployment will fall only slowly and that the rebound depends on measures to cut debt in advanced economies and to boost consumer spending in Asia.

Growth in Canada, the United States and other countries is expected to surpass the Bank of Canada’s previous hopes over the next year, the central bank said in its quarterly Monetary Policy Report yesterday, leading some economists to suggest interest rates will begin rising again in July, if not earlier, though some believe that will happen later in the year.

"This report is clearly a much more optimistic report, increasing the probability of the Bank of Canada moving as early as July," said Benjamin Tal, a senior economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce…

Bank of Canada likes prospects for recovery – The Globe and Mail