The Weekly 411:

Today we're covering

🍁 Most Affordable Cities in Canada 

😬 5 More Days Until BoC's Rate Announcement

👧 Millennials and Gen-Z are Broke

🏦 Canada's Mortgage Market: Debt Up 7.4%

Read Time: 3 minutes

🍁 Most Affordable Cities in Canada 

This data is based on a new Royal Lepage study that analyzed the percent of household monthly income required for mortgage payments. 
​​
Most Affordable Cities:

• Thunder Bay, Ontario (22.2%)

• Saint John, New Brunswick (25.1%)

• Red Deer, Alberta (25.7%)

• Trois-Rivieres, Quebec (28.5%)

• Edmonton, Alberta (28.9%)

Relocation Preferences:

• Edmonton is the top choice for relocation among residents in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas.

• Quebec City is the most popular destination among those living in Greater Montreal.

Housing Affordability Trends:

• Housing affordability has led to many families fleeing Canada's largest cities for more affordable cities and regions.

• Statistics Canada data show a net interprovincial migration of over 132,000 people in 2022-2023, down from 148,000 in 2021-2022 but far higher than pre-pandemic trends.

😬 5 More Days Until BoC's Rate Announcement 

Here's what we know:

• Most economists forecast a rate cut in July is more likely than June.

• With inflation at 2.7% in April, down from higher levels, there's growing confidence that inflation is under control.

• Variable-rate mortgages would see moderate savings; a 25-basis-point cut could save roughly $100 per month

• GTA housing sales were down 5% year-over-year in April, but new listings increased by 47%. Lower mortgage rates are crucial for affordability, drawing more buyers into the market.

👧 Millennials and Gen-Z are Broke

• The number of Canadians making only the minimum payment on credit cards increased by 8 basis points to 1.3% in Q1 2024 compared to the previous year.

• Total consumer debt reached $2.38 trillion in Q1 2024, a $60 billion yearly increase and near the record high of $2.4 trillion in Q4 2023.

• 31.8 million Canadians had one or more credit products in Q1 2024, a 3.75% increase from the previous year.

• Outstanding credit card balances for Gen Z increased by 30% compared to Q1 2023.

• Millennials hold the largest share of consumer debt, accounting for 38%.
  ​

🏦Canada's Mortgage Market: Debt Up 7.4%

• Residential mortgage debt in Canada has reached $2.16 trillion, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

• This represents a 7.4% increase from the previous year, but the slowest growth rate in 23 years.

• The slowdown is attributed to rising interest rates and stricter mortgage rules.

• The average mortgage debt per borrower is $143,000.

• The debt-to-income ratio for Canadian households has also increased to 186.6%, meaning for every dollar of income, households have $1.87 in debt.

🤔 WTF of The Week

The real estate world can be a wild place. That's why we created "WTF of the Week" – a weekly dose of the most unbelievable, outrageous, and downright funny stories.