CMHC reports surge in pace of housing starts

Fergal McAlinden
other

Find out what’s driving the movement…

The annual pace of housing starts was up 8% last month compared with April, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has revealed.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 287,257 units in May, a rise from 265,734 the month before, according to the national housing agency.
The pace of urban starts came in at 264,162 units in May, an 8% increase. The annual rate of urban starts of condos, apartments and other multi-unit housing projects rose 13% to 201,193 units, although single-detached urban starts registered a 4% decline to 62,969 units.
The six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts was also down in May, coming in at 254,727 units last month compared with 257,833 in April.
A seasonally adjusted annual rate of 23,095 units was reported for rural starts.
The new CMHC findings mark the second consecutive month of 8% growth in the annual pace of new home construction, with April having seen seasonally adjusted annualized rates surpass analyst expectations.

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Summer Market Forecast: Inventories are Rebuilding and Prices are Softening

Patti Cosgarea
other

 The month of May saw more than 50,000 units trade hands, leaning close to the 10-year average for the month, but this represents a decline of 21.7% below the record set in May of 2021. On a month-over-month basis, home sales fell by 8.6% in May, but approximately 588,288 properties are still expected to sell in 2022. A decline of 14.7% from 2021 but still the second-highest annual record ever.

The rise in inventory is expected to contribute to this figure. After a slowdown in overall sales in April, following interest rate hikes, the number of newly listed properties in May was up 4.5% month-over-month. Compared to the start of 2022, this is an increase of almost 69%. But the question on every buyer and seller’s mind is how the ever-growing interest rates will affect the market this summer.

• Read: Four Tips for Buying a Home Following Bank of Canada’s Interest Rate Increase

Prices are Still Expected to Drop Moving into the Summer Market in Certain Regions

The national average sale price posted a 3.4% year-over-year gain in May sitting at a little over $711,000, rising at a much more manageable rate than this time the previous year. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is expecting the national average home price to rise by 10.8% on an annual basis to $762,386 in 2022. The largest price gains are expected in the Maritimes, which is no surprise after Moncton was named the best place to buy real estate in Canada in 2022. Ontario and Quebec are also expected to see more price gains this year in certain regions. However, some cities have already seen steep declines in home prices versus April, especially in Oakville, Orangeville and Oshawa. For those home buyers on price watch, location is key – different trends are emerging when comparing major markets and provinces.

• Read: The Best Places to Buy Real Estate in Canada in 2022  

Prospective Sellers Should Consider Options as Prices Could be More Modest in 2023 

The 2023 forecast is expected to be more modest, with CREA reporting that the national map average home price may rise by only 3.1% on an annual basis, for an average price of $786,282. This means that home sellers that are on the fence should consider speaking to a real estate agent about their market and their home’s value now.

Home sales are also expected to decline a further 2.8% to 552,403 units in 2023. Markets including the Lower Mainland, Calgary, Edmonton, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Ottawa saw a decrease in sales. As inventory rises and sales slow, the sales-to-new listings ratio (SNLR)  in May was 57.5%. This ratio is used to determine what type of market we are in, with 50% signaling a balanced market. This is its lowest level since April 2019, although still in line with the long-term average of 55.1%

• Read: Shoutout to Home Sellers: This is What to Expect in a Balanced or Buyers’ Market

Some Ontario Markets are Still Experiencing Price Gains 

While many markets in Ontario saw prices dip month-over-month from April, cottage country along with many smaller cities in the province are still experiencing steady price gains despite an increase in inventory. 

Peterborough & the Kawarthas 

According to the MLS HPI composite benchmark price, Peterborough and the Kawarthas have yet to see a decline in price. The composite benchmark in May 2022 was $793,800, an increase of 0.1%. This is great news for sellers as they can still expect to sell their home with a profit and buyers are now experiencing a more manageable change in prices. 

Simcoe and District

Simcoe experienced a strong month in May, with more than 256 active residential listings on the market at the end of May, a 61% increase from the end of May 2021. Average price of homes sold have also grown by 19.6% from May of 2021, to $774,599 in May 2022. 

Tillsonburg District

Tillsonburg saw 291 new residential listings in the month of May. This is a record number for the most new listings added in the month of May. This is great news for buyers looking for their perfect home in the growing city. The MLS HPI composite benchmark price was $671,800 in May 2022. This is an increase of 22.6% compared to May 2021.

 

© 2015 – 2022 Zoocasa Realty Inc., Brokerage

 

 

UBCO pushes for 46-storey Kelowna tower

Wayne Moore
Western Investor

University wants to increase height 12 floors on downtown campus and residential high rise

If approved, Kelowna university tower would be the highest building between Metro Vancouver and Calgary. | University of British Columbia Okanagan

The University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) hopes to take the phrase “higher learning” to a whole new level.

In a new filing with the city June 13, the university is seeking to amend the height of its downtown campus and residential tower on Doyle Avenue from 34 storeys to 46.

It’s part of an application seeking an amendment for a comprehensively planned campus.

If ultimately approved by council, it would become the tallest building in the city, outdistancing the 42-storey Eli building, part of the Water Street by the Lake project.

The previous application for a 34-storey building was submitted to the city’s planning department in December, but has yet to reach the council table.

The latest iteration would include a “full range of academic, research and other supporting land uses essential to a leading-edge university program and campus,” the application notes.

Residential and education services would be primary uses within the building with childcare, culture, health, liquor primary establishment, offices, professional services, religious assemblies and retail as secondary uses.

The top 34 floors would be dedicated to 503 residential units. Those would include 335 studio units, 68 one-bedroom and 100 two-bedroom.

Kelowna’s planning director Ryan Smith said a year ago 46 storeys may be pushing the limits of what the planning department may be able to support.

In that case, he was speaking of a 46-storey proposal from New Town Architecture on Bertram Street near Bernard.

That proposal has since been taken off the table.

In discussing that particular project and height in general, Smith said it was his belief the city has reached the pinnacle in terms of height, specifically talking about the 42-storey Eli project.

“Leon was sort of a special case. From a staff perspective, we don’t see the need to support much beyond what we already have, if at all,” he said at the time.

“40 [storeys] may be pushing it.”

© 2022 Western Investor

Rennie reports it’s now a buyer’s market for detached homes in Vancouver West Side and West Vancouver

Carlito Pablo
The Georgia Straight

Change has come to the two most expensive places for detached homes in Metro Vancouver.
The West Side of Vancouver and West Vancouver are now a buyer’s market.
The shift in market conditions for single-family homes in these areas was noted in the June 2022 edition of the monthly rennie review.
Rennie is a major real-estate marketing company, which regularly comes up with market reports and analyses.
On June 6, the Straight reported that the market for detached homes in areas covered by the Greater Vancouver real-estate board has statistically become balanced.
The real-estate board reported that the sales-to-active-listings ratio for single-family homes in May 2022 shifted to 18.3 percent.
To explain, a market is balanced when the sales-to-listings ratio is between 12 percent and 20 percent.
Sellers and buyers are on an even field when the ratio sits at that range.
It is a seller’s market when the ratio goes over 20 percent, which means prices tend to go up.
It becomes a buyer’s market when the ratio comes below 12 percent, which generally leads prices to drop.
Well, rennie reported that the sales-to-listings ratio for detached homes in the West Side of Vancouver in May 2022 was down to 11 percent.
Rennie also reported that sales of single-family residences in this part of the city fell month-over-month in May by 14 percent, and were 32 percent below May 2021.
The median price in May was $3.6 million, down four percent from April and 0.6 percent above the same month last year.
Based on the market report by the Greater Vancouver real-estate board, the typical price of a detached home in the West Side of Vancouver in May 2022 was $3,490,600.
Over in West Vancouver, rennie reported that the sales-to-listings ratio for detached residences in May was 10 percent, reflecting a buyer’s market.
Also, sales fell month-over-month by 20 percent, and were 28 percent below May 2021.
The median price for detached homes in West Vancouver in May was $3.3 million, a three percent increase from April and six percent over May last year.
The Greater Vancouver real-estate board has reported that the benchmark price for single-family homes in this North Shore municipality in May was $3,475,600.
The June 2022 edition of rennie review noted that sales-to-listings ratio for detached homes in the combined markets of Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley in May 2022 was 16 percent.
This means that market conditions for single-family homes in these jurisdictions as a whole are now balanced.
It may be recalled that the Straight reported on May 11 about the edition in that month of the rennie review.
That publication suggested that the real-estate market as a whole may find itself in a balanced condition by summer.
“Maybe—just maybe—we’ll find ourselves with balanced market conditions just in time for summer,” rennie stated.
In its June 2022 edition, the rennie review suggested that what’s happening in the detached home market could extend to other segments in the market: townhomes and condos.
Rennie stated, “If the market inertia —of expanding inventory and blunted sales—that has ensconced itself in 2022 continues as we transition through the month of June (or should we say, Juneuary) and into summer, don’t be surprised if the balanced conditions currently reserved for describing the detached segment become more contagious.”

© 2022 VANCOUVER FREE PRESS.

How bad is B.C.’s housing crisis? This Sunshine Coast realtor can’t find a rental

Denise Ryan
The Vancouver Sun

A longtime resident of the Sunshine Coast faces leaving the area as housing prices and rental rates soar

 For nearly 30 years, Lori Pratt has lived on the Sunshine Coast. It’s where she raised her three daughters, volunteered for the Rotary club, and built a life.

The realtor and elected director with the Sunshine Coast Regional District spent 10 years as a school trustee in the area, and serves on the region’s homelessness advisory committee.

Now she faces the possibility that she may have to leave the region because of the affordable housing crisis and a lack of rental options.

Pratt has rented a home with a view of the water in Halfmoon Bay for over 10 years, but her landlords recently informed her that they needed the house back for family members.

She has been scouring Craigslist, Facebook and submitting applications for an affordable rental that would be suitable for herself, her dog and her 20-year-old daughter, but has had no luck yet. And if and when she does find a place, chances are she might not be able to afford it.

 

The Canadian Rental Housing Index rates the Sunshine Coast as extremely unaffordable, and the number of people spending more than half their income on rent is 40 per cent higher on the Sunshine Coast than the B.C. average.

“Most of what is available are $2,200 to $2,600 for a small two-bedroom, and no one is accepting pets,” said Pratt, who was priced out of the real estate market after a divorce.

Elske, her four-year old Great Pyrenees, Norwegian elkhound, German shepherd cross, is who she walks the beaches and trails with every day — and she has a cat. “Especially as my children have gone and are doing their own thing, my pets are my family,” said Pratt.

Now Pratt hopes to use her situation to shed a light on the lack of affordable housing on the Sunshine Coast.

 

“We need more purpose-built rental housing and that is about aligning developers with official community plans and finding the best places for them to be built,” said Pratt.

“I’m sharing my story because it’s really key to create more rental housing. So many others don’t have this same level of support, networks, or their stories are not being told.”

The Sunshine Coast has long been popular vacation and retirement community and many people have second homes and investment properties in the area. “We’ve seen an increase in short-term rentals, or they are sitting empty,” said Pratt.

Pratt said she may have to move to Alberta, where her parents have a farm.

“I do have a place to go, but I’ve spent my entire adult life here, I’ve raised three children here, I have deep roots in the community,” said Pratt.

It wouldn’t be easy to leave. “It’s heartbreaking. I’ve cried a lot,” she said.

“We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I love to give back, I love to try and make things better, and I want to make it more sustainable for future generations.”

[email protected]

 

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© 2022 Vancouver Sun

Canada ranked among top 10 for migrating millionaires

Graeme Wood
Western Investor

Canada is seen as a favoured destination for millionaires on the move. Many of them are coming from countries in strife, according to a new report

Vancouver, B.C. is among the popular destinations for millionaires on the move. | Chung Chow
Canada is among the top 10 countries expected to see a positive inflow of millionaire migrants this year, according to the latest Henley Global Citizens Report.
Canada should see a positive inflow of about 1,000 high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) who are mostly expected to come from Russia (-15,000), China (-10,000), India (-8,000), Hong Kong (-3,000) and Ukraine (-2,800), according to immigration advisors Henley and Partners in their second quarterly migration report of 2022.
Canada ranks ninth as a favoured destination, while the top three destinations are: United Arab Emirates (4,000), Australia (3,500) and Singapore (2,800).
Henley describes a “tsunami” of private capital leaving Russia and Ukraine, while Hong Kong emigration remains high amid an authoritarian crackdown by Beijing proxies — although it has dropped 29 per cent compared to 2019. Meanwhile, China’s COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns are causing a spike in emigration.
Globally, the wealthy have been increasingly on the move, according to Henley, and 2023 is expected to break records. In 2013, about 51,000 HNWIs moved countries and that figure jumped to 110,000 in 2019. Migration fell to 12,000 in 2020 due to pandemic restrictions until ratcheting back up to a forecast of 88,000 this year and an expected record 125,000 in 2023.
Over the next decade, Canada is forecast to see a 30 per cent increase in its overall HNWI population, the report states. This ranks fourth among the top 10 wealthiest countries (average net worth), after India (80 per cent), Australia (60 per cent) and China (50 per cent).
Canada’s major cities — Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver — are the most popular destinations for these immigrants, according to Henley.
“Many affluent individuals who saw their movements highly constrained during the pandemic are realizing the importance of diversifying their wealth and investments and enhancing their lifestyle options. Increasingly, they are looking for greater flexibility and want to better manage risks in the event of a future pandemic, geopolitical crisis, or other situation that might affect them and their country of primary residence,” states Henley.
The report notes this continued inflow will happen despite the Canadian government looking at new ways to tax wealth and luxury goods to pay off pandemic-related debt.
A significant factor for the continued rise is Canada’s augmented interest in raising immigration numbers, the report states.
The federal government has planned for 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024, with nearly 60 per cent of admissions in the “economic class.”
Henley says the upmost wealthy may target the country’s start-up visa program.
Canada no longer has its immigrant investor program; under the program, migrant investors were able to obtain citizenship for an $800,000 five-year loan to the government but not required to establish a certain income level. The government found it provided “little economic benefit” and nixed it in 2014.
These investor immigrants, who own residential property, now report a total median family income of $50,000, as opposed to federal skilled workers at $105,000 and refugees at $85,000, according to Statistics Canada.
A similar provincial program in Quebec has been paused until at least April 2023.
In order to make its report estimations, Henley states it tracks 150,000 anonymized wealthy individuals in a database covering 62 countries and bases its estimations on their movements and spending habits as well as government immigration data, real estate transactions and financial analysis.

© 2022 Western Investor

B.C. home sales drop 35% as rising mortgage rates bite

Stephanie Hughes
The Vancouver Sun

The housing correction has started’

 B.C. home sales were down 35 per cent in May from a year ago. Photo by Postmedia

Higher borrowing costs are continuing to weigh on British Columbia’s housing market as sales and home values slid in May over the previous month.

 

While the province’s average home price climbed more than nine per cent year-over-year to just over $1 million according to data from the British Columbia Real Estate Association, it was down six per cent from the $1.065 million recorded in April.

The association noted that sales slid as well, with 8,214 residential homes exchanging hands last month, down approximately 35 per cent from last May and eight per cent from April.

“Canadian mortgage rates continue to climb,” said BCREA chief economist Brendon Ogmundson in a press release accompanying the data. “The average five-year fixed mortgage rate reached 4.49 per cent in June. That is the highest mortgage rates have been since 2009.”

B.C. is not alone in seeing a slowing housing market. Other provinces have seen activity cool as well, led by major cities such as Toronto (which saw home prices drop for the third straight month in May), Montreal and Calgary.

 

Vancouver home sales slipped nearly 10 per cent from April to 2,918 units in May, also hitting a 32 per cent drop year-over-year in sales, according to data from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver. The price of a home in B.C.’s most populous city remained relatively flat in May at $1.26 million.

The Bank of Canada’s hiking path has so far taken the overnight rate up to 1.5 per cent and signals that the Bank may have to get even tougher on inflation could put upward pressure on mortgage rates. Higher rates are keeping more would-be buyers on the sidelines.

 

Steve Saretsky, Vancouver realtor and real estate specialist at Saretsky Group, told Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn in a May 24 interview that the housing correction has already started.

“I don’t think it’s as pronounced as what I’m hearing from Ontario, but I definitely think we’re going through the start of a housing correction here,” Saretsky said, adding that the beginning of the correction is most concentrated in the suburbs. “(The suburbs are) the markets that I think went through the most froth where a lot of them were driven by pandemic people relocating, working from home. So, those markets are definitely seeing sales slow down. Inventory is slowly starting to build and we are seeing a modest decline in home prices there.”

Saretsky said a confluence of factors are behind the decline, including the correction of the pandemic’s housing bull market and higher mortgage rates.

• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: StephHughes95

© 2022 Vancouver Sun

Investors, homebuyers see value in manufactured homes

Frank O’Brien
Western Investor

While prices have increased, manufactured homes offer a low-price point, and their parks provide investors with steady returns and, lately, startling appreciation

Manufactured homes in are selling quickly and for all-time high prices in Metro Vancouver and across B.C. this year but remain the most affordable detached houses on the market.
The action is not being lost on investors, who snapped up 69 home parks during 2020-21, including five in the Lower Mainland.
According to data from Royal LePage Westside Klein Group, most of the sales are taking place in the B.C. Interior and Vancouver Island, which accounted for 30 of the 41 manufactured home parks sold in B.C. last year.
The reason, aside from a wider selection than in the Lower Mainland, is higher capitalization rates, according to agents, despite the jaw-dropping prices being seen for manufactured homes this year in Metro Vancouver.
In March, for example, a 36-year-old manufactured home on a rented pad at the Millcreek Village park in central Coquitlam sold for $70,000 over asking after six days on the market. The double wide, two-bedroom home sold for $520,000, or about four times the price of typical manufactured home sold in the province.
Al Kemp executive director of the Manufactured (Mobile) Park Owners’ Alliance of BC. said the price is reflective of activity in the southwestern B.C. housing market, where people are looking for space and privacy at an affordable price.
“It [higher prices for manufactured homes) is becoming more common, I’ll put it that way,” said Kemp, whose organization represents 50 per cent of B.C.’s 900 manufactured home parks.
Prices for manufactured homes have steadily risen in the last two years, said Kemp, who speculated that the pandemic and the ability to work from home helped spark interest in purchasing these types of homes.
Kemp said manufactured homes can be an affordable option, providing the space of a single-family house without the $1.5 million price tag.
In fact, he said, the $520,000 price paid for this manufactured home is about the same as a condo but has the advantage in that there are “no shared walls.”‘
He acknowledged that owners pay pad rental fees, which can range from $700 to $1,100 a month in the Lower Mainland, but condo owners must pay strata fees and sometimes an additional levy for major repairs.
And unlike condos in tall towers where socializing is limited to a few households on a single floor, people in manufactured homes enjoy a sense of community, where they know their neighbours, Kemp said.
“Residents look out for each other. They supply social events and they take much greater interest in the property because they own the home,” Kemp said.
Over the years the stigma attached to living in a “mobile home” has eased as newer homes are built to national standards, which makes them more like a wood-frame house with drywall, weatherproofing and a 25-year roof, he said.
And with greater respect has come recognition by banks: You can now get a 25-year mortgage to purchase a manufactured home, and refinance if you need to build a shed or a new roof, Kemp noted.
“They’re not trailers anymore. They are not mobile homes anymore. They don’t come with wheels. They don’t come with hitches,” said Kemp.
Many manufactured home park sites in Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria have been developed into multi-family housing over the years, but manufactured home parks remain popular and plentiful in more rural areas of B.C.
And they can prove a good investment, capable of generating 6 per cent to 7.5 per cent cap rates, according to Vadim Kobasew of Re/Max Penticton Realty in Penticton, B.C.
“Smaller markets offer opportunities to attain higher cap rates than larger centres,” Kobasew noted.
There is also the appreciation factor.
Last year Kobasew sold a 12-pad site with seven additional rental cabins on 3.3 acres in Oliver, B.C.  Assessed at $890,000, it sold for $1.52 million, 71 per cent above the assessed value. The capitalization rate is 6.2 per cent.
This May he sold a 48-pad manufactured home park, on city services in Castlegar, B.C., for $100,000 over list price and $600,000 above its BC Assessment value, at $3.6 million.
Klein Group’s date provides insight into how park values have increased provincewide.
In pre-pandemic 2018, 40 manufactured home parks sold in B.C. at a total volume of $46.0 million, or $1.15 million per park. Last year, 41 parks sold for a total of $71.5 million, or $1.73 million per park.

© 2022 Western Investor

Newest homebuyers could pay the price for Canada’s financial stability

Don Pittis
CBC Radio

People who purchased a home during the pandemic, when prices soared 50 per cent, could be vulnerable as the Bank of Canada moves to fight inflation with higher interest rates. (Don Pittis/CBC)
As in previous years, reading the Bank of Canada’s annual Financial System Review can be enough to send your pulse racing, and not in a good way.
On the bright side, this time around, those most likely to suffer from the bank’s warnings will be young enough to withstand the health effects of heart palpitations.
The main reason why the Financial System Review can be worrying — just as it was last year, when it warned of the dangers of rising mortgage debt when few thought high inflation would be a problem — is that the Bank of Canada’s main aim is to tell us all what could go wrong, to offer solutions and to help us prepare.
Unexpected but worrying
Again this time, as Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem and his chief deputy, Carolyn Rogers, laid out their most ominous scenarios at Thursday’s news conference, they added a proviso.
“This is not what we expect to happen,” Macklem assured reporters after laying out a chilling series of potential events that could seriously damage the fortunes of those who poured their savings into a home during the pandemic as prices soared 50 per cent and interest rates plunged.
For those people, many of them young buyers hoping to get a first foot on what they expected would be a “property ladder,” the dire warnings may sound louder than the reassurances.
Macklem and Rogers insisted that since the vast majority of Canadians had paid off their mortgages or had manageable debt, the wider financial system was in little danger. But due to the absolute necessity of fighting inflation with rising interest rates, people who got in at the peak may be in trouble, especially if they lose their jobs. With jobs numbers on Friday predicted to remain strong, that seems far away, but things can change in a period of rising rates.

“If the economy slowed sharply and unemployment rose considerably, the combination of more highly indebted Canadians and high house prices could amplify the downturn,” Macklem said.
The central bankers reminded us that, in theory, the most recent buyers had a financial pad since “stress test” rules required buyers to have the financial capacity to pay a lot more than mortgage lenders were asking. But that did not mean young buyers had set aside the cash in an emergency account. Nothing prevented them from spending it on the inevitable necessities that come with a new home.
“If those highly indebted households lose their jobs, they would likely need to reduce their spending sharply to continue servicing their mortgage,” Macklem added, though where highly indebted and newly unemployed people would get the cash to do that is far from obvious.
Moderation or default?
Neither questioners nor central bankers uttered the word “default,” but if conditions really were to get as bad as the bleak scenario above, the number of mortgage defaults would likely rise.
Similarly, while the central bankers repeatedly talked about a necessary “moderation” in the housing market, there was no mention of the kind of serious decline in prices that some analysts are predicting.
Just as in last week’s news conference with deputy governor Paul Beaudry, reporters asked Macklem to respond to calls by Conservative leadership front-runner Pierre Poilievre for the bank governor to resign, saying he let inflation get out of hand.
Although Macklem tried his best to deflect the questions, it is hard to see critics being mollified if a surge in interest rates helps spur defaults among young and vulnerable recent homebuyers.

Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre has slammed the central bank, saying governor Tiff Macklem let inflation get out of hand. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
Part of the logic for offering such a bleak forecast might be as a warning to the many Canadians who are still borrowing to buy houses at levels they may regret.
Figures released last week by TransUnion, a company that monitors household debt, shows despite the threat of rising rates, Canadian borrowing in the first three months of this year — including mortgages and lines of credit — was up more than nine per cent from the same period in 2021.
It seems everyone has a take on inflation and its consequences.
The World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development have warned of the dangers of stagflation. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified to the U.S. Senate that high inflation would persist. Even rapper Cardi B and billionaire Elon Musk have weighed in with predictions of a recession, Canadian Business reports.
WATCH | Bank of Canada governor on threat to fire him over high inflation:

 Bank of Canada governor on Pierre Poilievre’s threat to fire him

Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, said he will leave politics to the politicians when asked about Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre’s campaign promise to fire him.

According to Macklem, the situation remains “delicate,” a term he used more than once.

After what he called the biggest economic shock he hoped we would ever face, including “two years of a pandemic and unprecedented economic and social upheaval,” the governor implied he would reluctantly accept recession as the price of getting inflation under control.

The clear implication is that for financial stability, inflation is now a more important problem than a weakening housing market and that some of those who ignored last year’s warning that surging mortgage borrowing was an accident waiting to happen may be sacrificed for the greater good.

“The housing market, it’s an important part of the economy,” Macklem said. “We are watching it closely, but our focus ultimately is on the whole economy and in getting inflation back to target.”

 

©2022 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved.

Canada housing affordability is at its worst in a generation National Bank

Micah Guiao
other