credit & debt CANADIANS HAVE TAKEN ON A LOT MORE DEBT THAN IN THE PAST, which is no surprise given how cheap money has been. Health checks on household and government finances are positive, with debt service ratios at manageable levels, mortgage arrears rates at all-time lows, and the federal government registering an actual budget surplus at the end of 2022 after 20 months of being deep in the red. demographics BRITISH COLUMBIA’S POPULATION CONTINUES TO BOOM as Canadians move westward and international migrants flock to the coast. This is and will be a boon to the provincial economy and to that of Metro Vancouver, though securing an adequate supply of new housing will be a must to ensure growth is sustainable. housing AN ARRAY OF CHALLENGES EXIST IN METRO VANCOUVER’S HOUSING MARKET, with rising prices negatively impacting some first-time home buyers and “move-uppers”. That said, the evidence shows rising participation of first-time buyers in our market, and new rental supply will provide much-needed affordable housing options for our growing region. policy WHILE A NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT POLICY MANEUVERS APPEAR TO BE IN THE WORKS, with implications for housing markets, the most relevant recent policy change relates to the Bank of Canada’s actions, which will see interest rates—for both variable-rate and fixed-rate mortgages—rise through 2022.
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