Toronto house prices soar in September + MORE Oct 5th

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Energy companies and banks are leading stocks higher in afternoon trading on Wall Street. A jump in the price of crude oil sent oil and gas companies higher, while banks benefited from rising bond yields, which will help them make more money from lending by allowing them to raise interest rates. Phone and real estate companies fell as their appeal to investors seeking income faded.
THE SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 128 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 18,296 as of 1:08 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 12 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 2,162. The Nasdaq composite climbed 39 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 5,329.
GUSHER: The price of U.S. benchmark crude rose 2.1 per cent to $49.73 after the U.S. government said energy stockpiles shrank last week, surprising analysts, who had expected inventories to grow. Investors have been pushing the crude sharply higher since OPEC announced a preliminary deal last week that would limit production, and is up now from a February low of $26…

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NEW YORK, N.Y. – The latest on developments in global financial markets (all times local):
11:45 a.m.
Energy companies are leading stocks higher in midday trading on Wall Street as the price of crude oil moves higher.
Chesapeake Energy jumped 6.6 per cent Wednesday, the biggest gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
The price of oil rose 2 per cent after the U.S. government said energy stockpiles shrank last week.
Bank stocks were also gaining as bond yields rose. That would allow banks to charge higher interest rates on loans. JPMorgan Chase rose 1.6 per cent.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 120 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 18,288.
The S&P 500 index gained 10 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 2,161. The Nasdaq composite climbed 36 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 5,326.
Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.72 per cent.
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9:35 a.m.
Energy stocks are leading an early gain on Wall Street as the price of crude oil moves higher.
Devon Energy rose 2…

TORONTO – Sweeping changes to Canada’s mortgage lending rules could push more borrowers into the unregulated, shadow banking segment of the market, creating a new pocket of risk in the financial system, industry insiders say.
“If you tighten rules and raise the bar on getting a mortgage from financial institutions, it may prompt a number of borrowers who are being shut out to deal with lenders that are in the less regulated space,” said RBC senior economist Robert Hogue.
Alternative lenders have seen massive growth in recent years as Ottawa’s efforts to cool the scorching real estate market have left some borrowers unable to secure mortgages through the traditional means.
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On Monday, Finance Minister Bill Morneau went further, announcing an array of fresh changes to the mortgage market, including a requirement that all insured mortgages undergo stress tests to determine whether the borrower will still be able to make their payments if interest rates rise…

TORONTO – Housing sales in the Toronto area continued to soar last month, with the average price rising 20.4 per cent from September last year to $755,755, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported Wednesday.
The price increases came as the number of transactions in the Greater Toronto Area rose 21.5 per cent, a stark contrast to a big drop in the number of transactions last month in Vancouver’s residential real estate market.
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The real estate board said Wednesday there was strong growth in sales transactions for all major home types in the area but a lack of supply limited growth in the City of Toronto itself.
By comparison, figures released Tuesday by Vancouver’s real estate board showed a 32.6 per cent drop in sales transactions compared with September 2015 — prior to a new 15 per cent provincial tax on foreign buyers that came into effect in August…