With consecutive interest rate hikes across G7 nations, borrowing is getting more expensive for those looking to take on a mortgage.
But Canada may be facing more challenges than its G7 peers.
CTVNews.ca looks at recent data by the intergovernmental Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to analyze where Canada stands in comparison with other G7 nations when it comes to housing affordability, housing prices, and indebtedness.
Central banks in G7 nations have been aggressive in addressing the rising cost of living through consecutive interest rate hikes.
High interest rates typically would mean high debt servicing costs, which eventually increase the cost of everything—from mortgages to credit cards and loans. The thought behind the hike is to discourage consumers from spending. To address the cost of living crisis, the Bank of Canada steadily raised interest rates, reaching 3.75 per cent last month, from just 0.25 per cent in January this year.
When compared with other G7 nations, Canada has the most expensive housing market.
Data from OECD shows that the price-to-income ratio—also known as the measure of affordability—remained the highest for Canada, followed by Germany.
According to the quarterly data released by OECD, Canada's ratio index reached 148.16 in the second quarter of 2022, the highest amongst G7 nations, which means that housing prices grew at a rate of 48 per cent faster than income since 2015. By comparison, house prices in the U.S. grew roughly 40 per cent faster than incomes since 2015.
In a virtual conference in March this year, Sharon Kozicki, the deputy governor with the Bank of Canada, said that Canadian households that have taken out mortgages with high loan-to-income ratios probably aren’t the ones who have a lot of cash in their bank accounts.
She said rising mortgages can trigger a slowdown in household spending and if enough of them reduce spending, it could impact the entire economy, resulting in slow growth and increased unemployment.
“A drop in house prices could worsen these effects,” she said.
Early in the pandemic, higher savings, and historically low interest rates encouraged some Canadians to buy homes. The buying pattern also shifted with people working remotely during the pandemic, which encouraged many Canadians to seek homes in the suburbs, where houses were larger and more affordable. A high disposable income further led to a surge in demand for home mortgages.
In the current high-interest rate environment, higher mortgage rates have contributed to a sharp decline in housing activity, leading to a decline in house prices. According to Wowa’s latest housing market report, average home prices in Canada have fallen by 22 per cent in the span of 7 months.
But the cooling housing market in Canada should not be mistaken for increasing affordability, warned Rebecca Oakes, Vice-President of Advanced Analytics at Equifax Canada in a recent press release.
She said affordability depended not just on home prices, but also on monthly payment obligations for a mortgage.“Higher interest rates coupled with high inflation can really stretch a consumer’s monthly expenditure, while many could find it difficult to qualify for a mortgage,” she said.
But despite cooling markets, recent data released by OECD shows that Canada has the highest nominal housing price. According to the annual data released by OECD, the ratio index for Canada grew 59 per cent since 2015, the highest jump recorded by any G7 nation, followed closely by Germany, which showed an annual jump of 58 per cent since 2015.
In the second quarter of 2022, Canada’s nominal house pricing index was 183.9, followed by the U.S. with a price index of 182
Due to the soaring housing prices during the pandemic, Canadians took on more mortgage debt in order to pay for a home.
Data from OECD shows that Canadians remain the most indebted in G7 nations and tend to take on more household debt than their G7 peers.
In 2021—the most recent year for which data are available for all countries—household debt in Canada was 185 per cent of disposable income.
In 2020, household debt in Canada was equivalent to 177.3 per cent of disposable income. In comparison, the U.K. has the second-highest household debt at 148 per cent. In comparison to OECD countries, which ranks 38 countries, Canada ranks ninth after countries such as Denmark and Norway that top the list with 255 per cent and 241 per cent of disposable income with household debt, respectively.
Kozicki said high indebtedness amongst Canadians could amplify the impact of interest rates. An additional concern is that a growing share of new mortgages also has variable rates, which tend to fluctuate with the bank’s policy interest rates.
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
As protestors set up tent encampments at universities across Canada and the U.S.in support of Palestine, London, Ont.’s Western University finds itself no exception on Wednesday.
A judge has rejected a request from two McGill University students for a court injunction to limit where protesters can go on campus.
Dozens of London Drugs stores in Western Canada remained closed for the fourth straight day following a "cybersecurity incident," but some services returned Wednesday.
Defence lawyers told court they will argue alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women by way of a mental disorder.
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
A section of a highway collapsed after heavy rains in southern China, sending cars tumbling down a slope and leaving at least 36 people dead, authorities said Thursday.
Administrators and campus police at UCLA faced intense criticism Wednesday for failing to act quickly to stop an attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus by counter-demonstrators who threw traffic cones and chairs, released pepper spray and tore down barriers.
Police shot and killed a Wisconsin student outside a middle school after receiving a report of someone with a weapon while class was in session Wednesday.
The Arizona legislature approved a repeal of a long-dormant ban on nearly all abortions Wednesday, sending the bill to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, who is expected to sign it.
Colombia says it will break diplomatic relations with Israel on Thursday over its actions in Gaza.
Prosecutors asked for a September retrial for Harvey Weinstein during a hearing Wednesday in Manhattan, the disgraced movie mogul's first court appearance since his 2020 rape conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week.
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.
The number of young people experiencing eating disorders surged during the height of the pandemic as the social and economic costs skyrocketed too, a new pan-Canadian report has found.
The highly contagious norovirus is spreading across Canada, with some symptoms overlapping with other viruses. CTVNews.ca spoke with a health expert to find out how you can tell you have norovirus, the most common form of stomach flu, and what to do if you have it.
Nathaly Paola Castro Torres has a rare disorder called Laron syndrome that is caused by a genetic mutation. It stunts her growth but also provides a hidden silver lining: Her body is protected from chronic diseases such as cancer that often take life away long before old age.
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.
A wealthy Silicon Valley-backed campaign to build a green city for up to 400,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area has submitted what it says are enough signatures to qualify the initiative for the November election.
Pop superstar Dua Lipa is preparing to pull double duty as this week's 'Saturday Night Live' host and musical guest, with a little help from cast member Chloe Fineman.
The career of the Godfather of Canadian Hip-Hop, aka Maestro Fresh Wes, is getting its close-up in a new exhibition that opens May 15 at the National Music Centre.
Melissa McCarthy was completely unbothered by a comment Barbra Streisand left on her Instagram in which the legendary singer asked the Oscar-nominated actress if she was on Ozempic. In fact, she took it as a compliment.
Employees at Canada's two biggest railways have authorized a strike that could see thousands of workers walk off the job in three weeks if they are unable to reach new deals on contract demands.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says he doesn't think the federal budget tabled last month will have much of an effect on inflation.
Plans to use a renovated cruise ship to house more than 600 workers as they build a liquefied natural gas facility near Squamish, B.C., have been voted down by the local council.
Have you ever wanted to rekindle an old friendship, but stopped short of actually reaching out?
A month after eight Norwegian Cruise Line passengers were stranded in Africa when their ship left without them because they were late getting back, a U.S. couple – ages 84 and 81 – were also left behind by the cruise line in Spain.
The City of Toronto is lowering adoption fees until Sunday to find homes for a number of dogs with “ridiculous, bizarre and terrible names” living in the North York crowded shelter.
Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper apologized for making what he called an inappropriate analogy of putting skirts on goalies.
Oilers forward Zach Hyman hoping to teach 'Shaq Hyman' how to skate: 'For free'
The Nashville Predators kept their season alive with a 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday.
Drivers in Saskatchewan will now lose their licence for a week and their vehicle for a month if they are caught committing certain high-speed and dangerous offences on the road.
Rolls-Royce is vastly expanding its factory in Chichester, England. The BMW subsidiary is adding five new buildings with construction planned to start next year.
On a three-lane test track along the Monongahela River, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rounded a curve. No one was on board.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
As of May 1, the new federally-run Canadian Dental Care Plan provides coverage for nearly two million low-income seniors. But finding a provider in B.C. could be tough.
The taps have been turned on for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion – a national infrastructure project that overcame fierce public opposition, construction delays and cost-overruns that pushed the final bill to more than $34 billion.
Every provincial employee is receiving emails or memos directing them to change their passwords immediately, CTV News has learned.
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
A female pedestrian has been taken to the hospital after being struck by a vehicle in Brampton.
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
High River RCMP are calling for increased highway awareness after an officer conducting a traffic stop on Highway 2 narrowly escaped being struck by a truck.
The parent council from a Calgary school has launched an online petition over concerns the facility won't be able to withstand unprecedented enrollment growth.
With rookie camps a week away, the CFL draft was held Tuesday night.
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Two Ottawa non-profits, both serving the autism community, have suddenly closed their doors within the past week, leaving parents with fewer supports in the city.
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
A judge has rejected a request from two McGill University students for a court injunction to limit where protesters can go on campus.
Montreal police were called to investigate two stabbings early Wednesday evening in Rosemont-La-Petite Patrie and Cote-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grace.
Canadian Airbus A220 jet assembly workers approved a five-year contract with more than three-quarters of votes in favor, their union said late on Wednesday, ending fears of a lockout at the planemaker's Montreal-area plant.
A man is in life-threatening condition after a Wednesday afternoon stabbing in Edmonton's core.
At this time last year, e-scooters had been patrolling Edmonton streets for almost a month. This year, they have yet to make their debut -- and likely won't until the end of this month at the earliest.
Edmonton Fire Rescue Services (EFRS) announced Wednesday morning Joe Zatylny will step down as its chief on May 10.
For the next month, thousands of shoppers from across the country plan to get their groceries anywhere other than Loblaws-owned stores. The move is an attempt to get the box chain to lower its prices, as frustration grows over the high price of food.
Local police say officers arrested Michael Bebee, the most wanted fugitive in Canada, in Charlottetown, P.E.I., Tuesday night.
The CEO of WestJet believes the reason the ultra low-cost airline model struggles to get off the ground in Canada is due to the country’s geography.
A motion before Winnipeg’s public works committee could make it easier for shoppers who stocked up on bulk packs of toilet paper and chicken breast to exit one of the city’s bustling Costco locations.
Mary Young walks across the Louise Bridge every day.
More than a dozen people are facing charges, the majority Winnipeggers, after an interprovincial drug bust that turned up millions of dollars in cash, drugs, guns, jewelry and luxury vehicles.
Sask. families who are required to travel outside of the province to access medical care for their children will receive financial support.
A former campground in Regina will be turned into an Indigenous ceremony site.
Weyburn RCMP say no one was injured in a single-vehicle semi rollover on Highway 18 near Beaubier, but the crash did force the closure of Highway 18.
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Hollywood heavyweight Arnold Schwarzenegger has caused quite a stir in a small Ontario town this week.
Waterloo regional police are looking for the person who shot into the window of a Waterloo business.
A Saskatchewan family won the bovine lottery after their cow gave birth to a rare set of quadruplets.
Saskatchewan employers will be required to tell new hires if they face a risk of violence in the workplace and to take actions against it starting on May 17.
Police officers and cadaver dogs have begun searching the Saskatoon landfill for answers in the Mackenzie Lee Trottier case.
Police in Sault Ste. Marie are investigating two sudden deaths on Boundary Road.
The remains of a 44-year-old person were found Tuesday morning on Delamere Road in French River, Ontario Provincial Police said.
French River officials say they’re hopeful things will start to improve now and that they’ve turned a corner from the high water levels on Lake Nipissing, the French River and other waterways going through their municipality.
Residents who live in the Hyde Park Place apartments in north London, Ont. said they are heartbroken after Old Oak Properties removed two geese nests, containing more than half a dozen eggs.
As protestors set up tent encampments at universities across Canada and the U.S.in support of Palestine, London, Ont.’s Western University finds itself no exception on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, councillors with the Municipality of South Bruce voted on a nuclear waste hosting agreement that could change the course of their community forever.
The man who police say killed Katherine Janeiro and left her body for friends to find, Robert MacQueen aka Bruce Ellis will stand trial for her murder.
A Barrie woman was all smiles after taking home a big lottery win to her husband.
Wasaga Beach will finally have its first high school. On Wednesday, the Town announced the state-of-the-art kindergarten to Grade 12 school project will go ahead.
The City of Windsor has filed its statement of defence following a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by a former senior employee.
An overseas manufacturer said it has developed electric vehicle batteries which can be charged in as much time as it takes to grab a coffee from Tim Horton's — and similar batteries are expected to be made by a Windsor-based EV research group sometime this year.
If you like engine revving, loud music and squealing tires, you could be landing yourself a ticket. That’s the message Wednesday from the Windsor Police Service as it launches the 2024 Anti-Noise Campaign.
A pro-Palestinian protest camp has formed at the University of Victoria in solidarity with the people of Gaza and with similar encampments that have sprung up on university and college campuses in opposition to the Israel-Hamas war.
Shauna Owens-Krahn lives on Bear Mountain in Langford. Four times a day she takes her dogs for walks through the trails near her home and carries bear spray, just in case.
Every provincial employee is receiving emails or memos directing them to change their passwords immediately, CTV News has learned.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
An emaciated dachshund is now recovering thanks to a Good Samaritan who found the pup near a biking trail in Kelowna, according to the BC SPCA.
Search and rescue crews have been called in after a vehicle belonging to a missing senior was located near a rural intersection outside of Kelowna Tuesday.
Volunteers with ‘The Watch’ program in Lethbridge have been patrolling the city centre rain or shine for five years.
A Transportation Safety Board report says experience, recent training and safety equipment were key factors in a pilot surviving the crash of a firefighting plane south of Cranbrook in August 2022.
Facing a Tuesday night elimination game, Caelan Fitzpatrick responded with a hat trick to lead the Brooks Bandits past the Okotoks Oilers 5-1.
The City of Sault Ste. Marie will soon be charging owners of vacant properties a special tax.
A group of Sault Ste. Marie YMCA supporters working to save the facility from closure received a glimmer of hope at this week’s city council meeting.
Another incident at Algoma Steel has union officials questioning safety protocols at Sault Ste. Marie’s steel plant.
Richard Martin is spending this year's fishing season on land after he says a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer broke his left leg in three places during a protest last month that shut down the provincial legislature.
Tributes continue to pour in for Bob Cole as his family has confirmed a funeral will be held for the legendary broadcaster Friday in St. John's, N.L.
Legendary sportscaster Bob Cole was a Newfoundlander through and through, and his daughter says his connection to the province was 'everything' to him.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at CTV News. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
