50/15/5: A saving and spending rule of thumb Saving can be hard, and overwhelming! Here is one great method to improve your savings. It isn’t about managing every penny. Track your money using three categories. Key takeaways Consider allocating no more than 50% of take-home pay to essential expenses. Try to save 15% of pre-tax […]

As home prices soar, so do the mortgage amounts borrowed. Soaring home prices over the past year have forced a majority of today’s homebuyers to use the maximum mortgage amounts they’ve been approved for. More than 65% of recent buyers bought the maximum amount of house they could afford, according to the Canada Mortgage and […]

Summer means camping, and camping means campfires! With fire bans in full effect across the Island, we thought you might need some alternatives! Camping without a campfire can throw off even the most experienced campers: It’s your light at night, your stove for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and a source of warmth when it gets […]

Mortgage Debt goes up, and Credit Card Debt goes down! Canada’s hot housing market was behind a 41.2% annual increase in new mortgages as of the first quarter, Equifax Canada reported. The average mortgage amount also rose by 20.5% to $326,903. “Low interest rates and speculation around U.S. inflation impacting our interest rates has fueled […]

Another month, another slow down in the housing market! Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales fell 8.4% nationally from May to June 2021, marking the third consecutive monthly decline. Over the same period, the number of newly listed properties fell 0.7%, and the MLS Home Price Index rose 0.9%, a marked deceleration from previous […]

Bank of Canada ‘On the Vanguard’ of Unwinding Stimulus The Bank of Canada raised its inflation forecast in the newly released July Monetary Policy Report (MPR), making it one of the most hawkish central banks in the world. The Bank announced its third action to reduce its emergency bond-buying stimulus program by one-third. The central bank was […]

Lock downs ease, and employment rates increase! This morning, Statistics Canada released the June 2021 Labour Force Survey showing employment rose 230,700 (1.2%) in June, rebounding from a cumulative decline over the previous two months of 275,000. Total hours worked were little changed. The national unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 7.8%.   Jobs continue to swing […]

As a first-time buyer, I am here to give you some tips on homebuyer mistakes to be on the lookout for so you can avoid them for the best experience possible! Thinking You Don’t Need a Real Estate Agent You might be able to find a house on your own, but there are still many […]

OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is easing its underwriting criteria for mortgage loan insurance after changes it made last year were not effective and caused it to lose market share. The federal housing agency said Monday that it returned to considering a gross debt service ratio of up to 39 per cent and […]