Rate Holds Steady While GTA and B.C. Sales Cool
The Bank of Canada's rate didn't move and bond yields eased slightly, leaving lenders a little room on fixed pricing. Home sales cooled in both the GTA and British Columbia in July even as month-over-month activity improved, and Edmonton's fastest-selling pockets show a still-uneven buyer's market. Royal LePage parent Bridgemarq posted a revenue decline, RECO referred a former chair to discipline, and a Toronto penthouse fetched full asking price in a segment that's mostly been negotiating down.
The Numbers
2.25% (1 minute read)
The Bank of Canada's benchmark rate stayed at 2.25%, exactly where it sat the day before. That's it, no surprise, and no fresh signal on carrying costs until the next scheduled decision.
Rates & Money
Five-year bond yield eases (1 minute read)
The five-year Government of Canada bond yield, the benchmark lenders lean on to price fixed mortgages, eased to 3.3% from 3.32% the day before. It's a small move, but a softer yield gives lenders a bit of room to trim fixed-rate offers this week if it holds.
Desjardins mortgage book keeps growing (3 minute read)
Desjardins's residential mortgage portfolio kept expanding through the second quarter, with improved margins and lower credit-loss provisions lifting earnings. It's a sign lenders still have appetite for mortgage growth even with rates where they are.
The Market
GTA sales slip year over year (2 minute read)
Greater Toronto Area home sales slipped again in July compared with a year earlier, ending a stretch of monthly annual gains, though the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board noted an improvement from June once seasonally adjusted. Agents working the region should read the month-over-month bump as noise, not a turn, until the annual comparison flips positive too.
B.C. sales fall again, Lower Mainland drags (2 minute read)
Home sales across British Columbia fell again in July, with Lower Mainland weakness driving the provincial decline, and activity stayed well below its historical average even though most regions improved from June. The province is still working through the same soft patch it's been in for a while now.
Industry
Bridgemarq revenue slides (3 minute read)
Bridgemarq Real Estate Services, the parent company behind Royal LePage, reported a second-quarter revenue decline, citing softer transaction volumes across its brokerage network. It's a reminder that the slowdown agents are feeling in commission volume shows up on the parent company's books too.
RECO refers former chair to discipline (3 minute read)
The Real Estate Council of Ontario referred a former board chair to its discipline committee over alleged trust account failures, though the individuals involved say no funds were ever missing or misused. Trust account handling remains one of the areas regulators keep circling back to.
The Playbook
What buying a bank sale actually looks like (14 minute read)
Toronto Realty Blog walked through the reality of buying a bank-owned property this week, a process far more bureaucratic and slower than a typical resale deal. If a client is eyeing a bank sale, set expectations early: financing conditions, timelines and paperwork all move on the bank's clock, not the buyer's.
The High End
King West penthouse gets full ask (2 minute read)
A large penthouse suite in Toronto's King West sold for its full asking price (a rarity in a market where luxury condos have mostly been negotiating down). Wall-to-wall windows and multiple balconies apparently did what pricing alone hasn't in this segment lately.
The Argument
BMO and Better Dwelling clash on insolvencies (3 minute read)
BMO Capital Markets waved off Canada's rising insolvency filings, arguing that once you adjust for population growth the trend looks fine. Better Dwelling isn't buying it, arguing the per-capita reasoning falls apart once you look at what's actually driving the filings. But the disagreement matters for anyone watching credit stress signals heading into fall.
The Globe: policy counts units, not the right units (4 minute read)
The Globe and Mail argues Canadian housing policy has fixated on unit counts at the expense of unit types, pushing developers toward condo shoeboxes when buyer demand skews toward houses. Until governments weigh the mix of what gets built as heavily as the tally, the argument goes, affordability targets will keep missing what buyers actually want.
Design & Living
A reno that started with a shed (4 minute read)
A Globe and Mail feature traces a lengthy home renovation that began with replacing a rundown garden shed and grew from there. It's a useful example for agents advising clients on scope creep: a small starter project has a way of becoming the whole backyard.
Quick Hits
Crombie REIT adds a Surrey Safeway (3 minute read)
Crombie REIT closed its purchase of a Safeway-anchored property at South Surrey's Ocean Park Shopping Centre, its latest grocery-anchored acquisition.
B.C. and Ottawa talk development charge cuts (4 minute read)
British Columbia's housing minister says the province is negotiating with Ottawa to cut development cost charges as part of its push to speed up homebuilding.