ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION
July 25, 2022 | Historic Correction Underway
Another month, another record inflation print. Canada’s CPI inflation printed 8.1%, the highest level since January 1983. The silver lining is this was actually lower than market expectations of 8.4%, sending bond yields lower on the premise that inflation is likely peaking and a recession is becoming nearly inevitable if we aren’t in one already. […]
July 18, 2022 | Front Loading
Another month, another jumbo sized rate hike from the Bank of Canada. Tiff Macklem and crew surprised markets with a 100bps rate hike, the largest move since 1998 when the central bank was trying to support a weak Loonie. It was just two years ago when the Bank of Canada was rather irresponsible in encouraging […]
July 4, 2022 | Flushed Down the Toilet
As per Stats Canada, activity at the offices of real estate agents and brokers dropped 15.0% in April, the largest contraction since April 2020. That was in April, so you can only imagine how the data will look in the coming months. Recent sales figures in Canada’s two largest major metros suggest this bear market […]
June 27, 2022 | Cash for Renters
Another month, another record inflation print here in the Great White North. Headline inflation in Canada ticked up to 7.7% year-over-year in May, a 39 year high. Shelter, which is the largest component of the CPI basket also moved higher, up 7.4% from last year. Of course if you’re relocating in the rental market or […]
June 20, 2022 | News Economically Unfeasible
Over the past several weeks regular readers of this newsletter have heard me rant about the impending slowdown in the development space. A combo of rising financing costs and still elevated construction costs makes for a rather terrible risk/reward ratio for home builders. In fact, it makes some projects economically unfeasible. Mainstream media is now […]
June 13, 2022 | The Great Moderation
Another week, another bump higher in borrowing costs. The Canada 5 year bond yield ripped again, climbing above 3.3%, the highest reading since March 2008. Last time rates were this high bad things happened. As has been the theme of this newsletter for the past month or so, I continue to believe this is a […]
June 6, 2022 | Soft Landings
The Bank of Canada raised interest rates another 50bps this past week, signalling more pain to come. The overnight rate sits at 150bps, just shy of where the Bank of Canada got stopped out in 2019. Markets are still pricing in another 150bps of additional tightening this year, which suggests the overnight rate will sit […]
May 31, 2022 | Appraisers are Skittish
More monetary tightening is heading our way this week with the Bank of Canada fully expected to hike interest rates another 50bps on Wednesday. Assuming they do indeed hike rates by 50bps on Wednesday, Markets are still pricing in another 125bps of tightening by the end of the year. Of course, much of this depends […]
May 16, 2022 | The Rout is On
It was another volatile week for financial markets. Nearly $11 trillion was erased from global equity values. If you start adding the bond and crypto markets we have $35 trillion in wealth that has evaporated. I’m often asked where is all the money coming from? How are people coming up with the down payments for […]
May 9, 2022 | Payment Shock for Some
We need higher rates to moderate demand, including demand in the housing market. Housing price growth is unsustainably strong in Canada. That was the message from senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, Carolyn Rogers this past week. Yes, the central banks continues to talk up further rate hikes, with the goal of slowing […]
May 2, 2022 | Team Transitory Has Disbanded
No regrets. That was the message from Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem when asked about his broken promise on holding rates at zero until the end of 2023. If you recall, in July 2020 Macklem gave the green light for Canadians to speculate on housing, announcing “If you’ve got a mortgage, or if you’re […]
April 25, 2022 | Not Bullish Sentiment
While this is probably getting tiresome at this point, inflation came in hot once again in March, hitting a 30 year high. Consumer prices are up 6.7% from last year, and are likely to hit 8% in April based on Stats Canada finally adding used car prices to the CPI basket. This is ramping up […]
April 18, 2022 | Arsonist & Firefighter
For the first time in over 20 years, the Bank of Canada raised rates by over 50bps at their most recent meeting. Everyone is panicking, inflation is here and the Bank of Canada is acting tough, they’re no longer going to support the housing market, so naturally a housing crash is just around the corner, […]
April 11, 2022 | Headline Grabbers
The Federal Government unveiled an updated budget this past week, and it included a wide range of housing policies. While many of these were good headline grabbers, some of them will never see the light of day, and others lack any real substance. Let’s dissect some of them further. Foreign Buyer Ban The media took […]
April 4, 2022 | End of the Housing Bull Market?
It’s official, mortgage rates have hit 4% here in Canada. Several of the large banks have increased their popular 5 year fixed rate mortgage above 4%. You’d have to go back to about 2013 when rates were this high. Also worth adding that 2013 was a pretty slow year for housing and so I expect […]
March 28, 2022 | Not Until Something Breaks
Happy Monday Morning! It looks like inflation might not be transitory after all, and the bond market is finally figuring that out. Bonds have been selling off hard lately, sending yields much higher, and tightening financial conditions in the process. This is particularly important for the Canadian housing market. If there was ever a catalyst […]
March 21, 2022 | Purchasing Power is Getting Slaughtered
Consumer prices ripped to a thirty year high in Canada, rising 5.7% from last year. Shelter inflation was up 6.6%, the highest since 1983. Per ScotiaBank, much of that is being driven by the homeowners’ replacement cost, which was up 13.2% y/y. Unlike the US that uses owners’ equivalent rent, Canada captures housing primarily through […]
March 14, 2022 | Stability in a World of Volatility
Inflation concerns continue to percolate. US CPI inflation ripped to 7.9% in February, the highest reading in over 40 years. So now we basically have inflation at 8% and interest rates at zero. Of course this has major implications not only from a financial perspective but a societal perspective. It’s also a fundamental driver behind […]
March 7, 2022 | Volcker Moment?
Brace yourselves, we have liftoff! The Bank of Canada officially raised interest rates a mere 25bps last week. This was the first move since 2018 and comes at a time when inflation is running at 30 year highs. Markets believe another 5-7 rate hikes are still coming this year and some are calling this the […]
February 28, 2022 | Now What?
I have long argued that a sell-off in Canadian housing will not be self-induced. In other words, policy makers are not going to willingly tank the market. If / when you have a downturn it will be due to something out of our control, likely a crisis in emerging markets that ripples through global financial […]
February 22, 2022 | Bullish Government Incompetence
I know you probably don’t need another reminder on inflation so i’ll keep this brief. Inflation figures ticked higher again in January, with consumer prices rising 5.1% from last year. Prices are now rising at their quickest pace since 1991. In other words, so long as you don’t eat, drive a car or own a […]
February 14, 2022 | Not So Fast
Inflation in the United States surged to 40 year highs in January, with consumer prices growing by 7.5% year-over-year. The last time inflation was rising this quickly the fed funds rate was sitting at 15%, today it sits at zero. This is ramping up calls for aggressive interest rate increases in order to quell inflation, […]
February 7, 2022 | Home to The Middle Class
Everyone is well aware of the great reshuffling throughout the pandemic. People migrated away from the city, opting for more space and privacy while they worked from home. Everyone rushed out to the suburbs. Similar to the toilet paper crisis at the onset of the pandemic, housing inventory in the burbs was swiftly plucked bare. […]
January 31, 2022 | Truth is Like Poetry
To the dismay of prospective home buyers hoping for a cool down in the nations housing market, Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem left interest rates unchanged this past week. It was an odd move considering a 25bps rate hike was already priced into the markets, and there would have been no justification needed, given […]
January 25, 2022 | Worst Buying Conditions on Record
Consumer prices continue to rip higher in Canada, officially growing at their fastest pace in 30 years per Stats Canada data this December. Consumer prices were up 4.8%, while shelter costs, which make up a part of the CPI basket, were up 5% from last year. Of course this is stirring the ongoing debate on […]