Latest News Kim Stenberg 14 Oct
There are many unusual aspects to the current housing correction, but fundamentally the most noteworthy is how orderly and non-chaotic it has been. Home sales have slowed, but so have new listings, so the price declines are more muted than we might have expected. This is not a housing collapse. It is a housing correction. […]
Read MoreLatest News Kim Stenberg 11 Oct
Today’s Labour Force Survey showed that employment grew in September for the first time in four months. Job gains remained moderate despite the high number of vacancies, indicating how tight the job market remains. Wage rates rose 5.2% year-over-year (y/y), the fourth consecutive month for which wage gains exceeded 5%. The jobless rate ticked downward, […]
Read MoreGeneral Kim Stenberg 29 Sep
One of the biggest benefits to purchasing your own home is the ability to build equity in your property. This equity can come in handy down the line for refinancing, renovations, or taking out additional loans – such as a second mortgage. What is a second mortgage? First things first, a second mortgage refers to […]
Read MoreLatest News Kim Stenberg 20 Sep
Canada’s headline inflation rate cooled again in August, even a bit more than expected. The consumer price index rose 7.0% from a year ago, down from 7.6% in July and a forty-year high of 8.1% in June, mainly on the back of lower gasoline prices. The CPI fell 0.3% in August, the most significant monthly decline since the […]
Read MoreLatest News Kim Stenberg 19 Sep
The Governing Council of the Bank of Canada raised its target for the overnight policy rate by 75 basis points to 3.25% and signalled that the policy rate would rise further. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening (QT), reducing its holdings of Government of Canada bonds, which puts additional upward pressure […]
Read MoreLatest News Kim Stenberg 11 Aug
It was widely expected that US consumer price inflation would decelerate in July, reflecting the decline in energy prices that peaked in early June. The US CPI was unchanged last month following its 1.3% spike in June. This reduced the year-over-year inflation rate to 8.5% from a four-decade high of 9.1%. Oil prices have fallen […]
Read MoreLatest News Kim Stenberg 8 Aug
The Canadian Economy is Slowing — Job Markets Will Begin to Shift The July employment report, released this morning by Statistics Canada, is a real head-scratcher. The job numbers fell for a second consecutive month, but so did the number of job seekers, so the unemployment rate remained unchanged at a historic low of […]
Read MoreMortgage Tips Kim Stenberg 2 Aug
One of the quickest ways to take back control of your finances and understand where your money is going is to create a monthly budget. This will help you get a snapshot of your income compared to your spending, and provides an avenue to review outgoing costs and determine areas for improvement to help you […]
Read MoreLatest News Kim Stenberg 13 Jul
The Governing Council of the Bank of Canada raised its target for the overnight policy rate by a full percentage point to 2-1/2%. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening (QT), reducing its holdings of Government of Canada bonds, which puts additional upward pressure on longer-term interest rates. In its press release […]
Read MoreGeneral Kim Stenberg 7 Jul
While getting pre-qualified can give you a ballpark estimate on what you can afford, getting pre-approved is where the real magic happens. Mortgage pre-approval means that a lender has stated (in writing) that you do qualify for a mortgage and what amount, based on submitted documentation of your current income and credit history. A pre-approval usually specifies […]
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