Peoples Trust + MORE Jan 22nd

Toronto is known for many things. It’s home to the Maple Leafs and Raptors, is one of the most multicultural cities in the world and hosts the world-renowned Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), to name a few. Now, you can add one more thing to T-Dot’s list of accomplishments – its housing market is officially a “global anomaly.”
Out-Of-This-World Growth
RE/MAX has released numbers that find Toronto home prices have experienced two straight decades of price appreciation; the average price of residential housing in the Six is up a whopping 214 per cent since 1996, driven by low interest rates, population growth and a strong economy.
“You can’t save at the rate real estate appreciates,” says Laura Cooper of Royal LePage Estate Realty Brokerage. “Clearly evident through analyses of the steady upward trend over the past two decades, real estate is one of the most consistently profitable investments one can make. With no signs of the market cooling down any time soon due to such factors as consistent population growth, foreign investors, empty nesters downsizing, first time home buyers coming into the market, combined with affordable mortgage rates, all feeds the ever-growing market and creates competition among them along the way…

Today’s announcement from the Bank of Canada that it would maintain the overnight target rate at 0.5% could signal business as usual for Canada’s real estate market—another way of saying that home sales will continue be fast and furious in the nation’s two hottest markets, Toronto and Vancouver.
In its Monetary Policy report, the BoC acknowledged that surging house prices continue to be a concern for the nation’s overall economic well-being stating that: “Reductions in the Bank’s policy interest rate in January and July 2015 contributed importantly to these accommodative financial conditions. For example, yields on 5-year Government of Canada bonds are now roughly 80 basis points below their average level in December 2014.”
However, the BoC feels that regulatory changes that impact both consumers and lenders will help to slow lending market activity this year. “Bank funding costs have been edging up more recently, prompting some financial institutions to increase mortgage rates by about 5 to 15 basis points…

Did you know – there are 5.71 million mortgages in Canada, and $3 trillion in home equity nation-wide? That’s a lot of lending – and 2015 was no exception, with 660,000 new home purchases. The action has been compiled by Mortgage Professionals Canada (formerly CAAMP) in their Annual State of the Residential Mortgage Market in Canada report – check out our handy infographic for the highlights!

The post INFOGRAPHIC: 2015 Canadian Mortgage Stats appeared first on MoneyWise.

A colossal $400 billion of Canadians’ money is rotting in non-interest bearing chequing and savings accounts, and EQ Bank wants to do something about it. EQ Bank is a new all-digital/no-branch operation run by mortgage lender Equitable Bank. It launched last week with a head-turning 3% interest rate on a no-fee bank account. Much has already been written on its features (unlimited transactions, free electronic transfers, free bill pay, photo deposits and five free Interac e-Transfers, but no ATM access, debit card or cheques). What we found most interesting, as mortgage analysts, is how it’s run. “We are reinventing what READ MORE

Company: Peoples Trust Position: Manager, Mortgage Administration Location: Vancouver, BC Apply to: Click here Manager, Mortgage Administration Do you want to be part of a smaller more personable organization? One that recognizes that people are the cornerstone of its continued success. If so then Peoples Trust is where you want to be. We offer long-term careers, competitive compensation packages and a great place to work, combined with the opportunity for personal and professional growth. Peoples Trust is a successful Financial Institution located in Vancouver, with over $6 Billion in assets under administration and offices across Canada, including Calgary and Toronto; READ MORE