Mortgage Architects/Radius to Change Hands + MORE Aug 27th

Negotiations are underway for Pacific Mortgage Group (PMG) to be sold. The company owns Mortgage Architects, one of the largest mortgage brokerages in the country, as well as the lender Radius Financial. Radius was ranked 15th in broker channel market share, according to D+H, with 0.9% of the market. PMG founder Alex Haditaghi officially announced the sale-in-progress to employees and brokers today. In an email to the company, he said: “…This moment is bittersweet for me as I am officially announcing to you that it is my intention to exit the business and retire as Chairman and Founder of Pacific READ MORE

By: Will Dunning
Last fall, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation published research on a “House Price Analysis and Assessment framework”.  This combines various housing market indicators into an overall rating of “problematic housing market conditions”. The ratings are published for all of Canada and 15 major markets.
The ratings have now been published three times.  On each of these three occasions, the rating for all of Canada was “Low Risk”.  For the Toronto area, the rating was “Moderate Risk” the first two times, with a change to “High Risk” in the August 2015 release.
This, of course, has given rise to suggestions that there is a significant risk of large house price reductions for the Toronto area.
A True Risk Indicator?
I have to say that the CMHC analysis doesn’t convince me there is high risk in the Toronto market. Also, based on what CMHC says in its report, it has not explained why the level of risk has increased compared to its two prior reports – if anything, what CMHC says in its newest report should have led it to conclude that the level of risk is the same or even lower than previously…

TORONTO – Credit monitoring agency TransUnion says Canadians appear to be getting better at handling consumer debt.
In its latest report, TransUnion says a shrinking percentage of debt payments are overdue by 90 days or more — even though the average balance owing continues to rise.
It says there was an overall delinquency rate of 2.58 per cent on non-mortgage consumer debts in the second quarter.
That was down from a delinquency rate of 2.78 per cent in the second quarter of 2013 and 2.69 per cent in 2014.
Canada’s Best Credit Cards of 2015 »

TransUnion’s average consumer debt number rose to $21,028 in the three months ended June 30, about $148 higher than in the second quarter of 2014.
Lines of credit accounted for 35 per cent of all non-mortgage consumer debt, which also includes credit cards and car loans.
TransUnion’s director of research and analysis, Jason Wang, says the trends show Canadians are increasingly aware of the importance of making payments on time and that they have the capacity to do so…

The Bank of Canada has chopped central rates twice this year to accommodate a slowing economy. Could we be in for another rate decrease in September’s announcement? A recent stock sell-off, global market upheaval and the sliding price of oil all point to the possibility. In the meantime, however, BoC head Stephen Poloz refuses to confirm an official recession, and economists consider the next crop of GDP and jobs numbers (out next week), to determine whatever happens next.
However, the vote remains split on whether rates need to be cut again – and one of Canada’s big banks anticipates the opposite.
Mortgage Rates to Rise by 2016: RBC Economics
In a recent report, RBC has stated that interest rates will remain unchanged for the rest of 2015 before actually rising in 2016. Given the current trend of economic turmoil, it’s a pretty strong statement. The big bank has a glass-half-full view of the economy, saying it sees gradual economic recovery over the next year…

Rising home prices have increased household debt levels, but steps taken by regulators to tighten mortgage lending rules have helped manage the associated risks, according to the Bank of Canada.