Housing will be banks’ next sore spot

Vancouver Sun- Canada’s housing market was a key source of strength that shielded the banks from the financial crisis but a flurry of recent warnings about a market bubble is raising concerns the vast mortgage holdings on bank balance sheets is about to become a millstone.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Tuesday released a study arguing that the red-hot residential real estate market in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and other cities is “an accident waiting to happen.”

“Canada is experiencing, for the first time in the last 30 years, a synchronized housing bubble,” said the report by David Macdonald.

The warning comes after a report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development argued that bloated debt levels of Canadian households are a threat to the economy…

Housing will be banks’ next sore spot

Household worth rebounds after recession

Times Colonist- Rising stocks and home prices have helped restore almost all of the value Canadians lost in household net worth during the economic downturn.

Household net worth rose 1.3%, or by $74-billion, to $6-trillion, as the growth in the value of assets, particularly equities and residential real estate, exceeded the increase in liabilities, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

“This marks the fourth consecutive quarterly improvement in household net worth and reflects a 96 per cent recovery off the net worth lost during the recent economic downturn,” David Onyett-Jeffries, economist at RBC Economics Research, wrote in an analysis.

“The increase of household net worth continues to repair the cumulative $552-billion decline.”

Household debt has also risen as low interest rates have encouraged Canadians to increase borrowings, but that has led to strengthening in demand and asset prices, particularly housing, said Mr. Onyett-Jeffries…

Household worth rebounds after recession

How Canadians are growing richer but deeper in debt

The Globe and Mail- Canadians are getting richer as stocks and house prices rise. Household net worth rose 1.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year, or $74-billion, to $6-trillion, Statistics Canada said today, as the value of assets eclipsed the rise in liabilities. “This follows a 1.8 per cent advance in the previous quarter,” the federal statistics gathering agency said. “Gains in the value of financial assets, especially equities, as well as increases in residential real estate contributed to the advance in net worth.”

Household debt also rose, particularly mortgages, Statistics Canada said. The ratio of household credit market debt-to-income now stands at 147 per cent, up from 144.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2009…

How Canadians are growing richer but deeper in debt – The Globe and Mail

What’s at stake in Competition Bureau’s MLS fight

The Globe and Mail- Canada’s national real estate association, which was founded in 1954. The Multiple Listing Service trademark is owned by CREA, which has nearly 100,000 members, and each of the country’s real-estate boards (there are 101) operates the service in their region. The MLS, which has come under fire, is an Internet-based system where homes are listed and agents can find additional information about a home’s history. Roughly 90 per cent of all residential real-estate transactions in Canada involve MLS data…

What’s at stake in Competition Bureau’s MLS fight – The Globe and Mail

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