Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Canada’s housing market saw the largest improvement in affordability in nearly four years in the first quarter of 2023, according to a report from economists at the National Bank of Canada.
The report analyzes housing affordability in major census metropolitan areas, factoring in the prices of condos and other dwellings, as well as the real estate market as a whole.
It measures affordability by tracking the number of months a median-income household will need to save for the minimum down payment of an average-priced home, if they were to save 10 per cent of their income before tax.
The report states that housing affordability improved across the board in Canada’s 10 major census metropolitan areas in the first quarter — the first time this has happened in all markets in two and a half years.
The largest improvements occurred in Vancouver, which remains the least affordable Canadian city for buying a home, Hamilton and Toronto.
By contrast, Calgary, Edmonton, and Quebec saw the smallest increases in improvement, the report notes.
The average mortgage payment as a percentage of income (MPPI) registered at 60.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, down 3.2 points from the previous quarter and 5.4 points from the second quarter of 2022, when Canada’s housing market reached its most unaffordable level in more than 30 years.
The economists note that while the MPPI improved, it remains elevated and has not counteracted the huge rise in unaffordability observed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, it states that its benchmark five-year fixed rate mortgage used to calculate affordability declined 14 basis points.
Restrictive interest rates, a decrease in home prices and rising incomes were factors that led to the improvement in housing affordability, the report notes.
Looking ahead, National Bank says it’s expecting to see a “slight easing of pressure” on interest rates in the second quarter of 2023.
“That said, a stabilization in home prices is likely given the pickup in activity with sales increasing while listings have moderated,” the report’s authors state.
“However, we have doubts as to whether this price rise will be sustained, given restrictive monetary policy which is contributing to maintaining affordability at a challenging level.”
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
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.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.