Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The Bank of Canada's decision to delay a rate hike for five more weeks will add fuel to Canada's scorching housing market as buyers scramble to clinch deals before borrowing costs rise, realtors said.
The Bank of Canada held its overnight rate at a record low 0.25% on Wednesday, but warned multiple increases would be coming soon. The U.S. Federal Reserve separately also said it would start hiking soon.
"Any hint of interest rate increases, any hint that it's about to go up, makes people nervous," said Lisa Bednarski, a Toronto real estate agent. "They want to buy before their buying power diminishes."
Canada's housing market has been on a tear throughout much of the pandemic, with prices up 39% nationwide from February 2020 to December 2021. In November and December alone, home prices jumped 4.5%, compared with a 3.7% gain in all of 2019.
Forecasts are mixed for 2022, with the Royal Bank of Canada seeing home prices up 3% this year and brokerage Royal LePage forecasting a 10.5% gain.
While the early rush was mostly end users seeking out larger properties with space for offices, gyms and living, by mid-2021 investors had taken hold of the market, according to agents. A recent Bank of Canada study found investors now account for more than 20% of home purchases.
Supply, meanwhile, has reached historic lows, realtors say.
With few options on the market, many end users are holding back - especially current owners who already have a foothold in the market, said real estate agent Peter Kiriazopoulos.
Investors are another story.
"My investor clients - they're not too picky," said Kiriazopoulos, who sells in Toronto's suburbs. "They just want to move so they can close at a lower interest rate."
Right now, a typical Toronto area home may have 15 buyers putting in offers. A hike would have cut that by a third, said mortgage broker Ron Butler. Instead, all those bidders will be ready with their best offer for another five weeks, he said.
"It is a little sprinkle of lighter fluid," said Butler. “In the psychology of the public, it’s a moment of relief.”
The Bank of Canada acknowledged low interest rates play a role in home-price escalation, along with increased investor interest, but suggested the solution was outside their policy mandate.
"The bank's view is that the most important thing that will restore balance to the housing market in Canada is an increase in supply," Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers told reporters on Wednesday. "Supply has not kept pace with demand."
But some economists disagree. Derek Holt, head of capital markets economics with Scotiabank, expects prices to surge again over the next few weeks until the Bank hikes, likely on March 2.
"The Bank of Canada seems to be dramatically downplaying the role of easy money as a contributor to hot housing markets," Holt said.
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.