Your Weekly 411: Toronto New Home Sales Hits Record Low | Alberta Sees 54% Surge in New Home Construction | BMO Expects $906 Million in Losses from Mortgages

The Weekly 411:

Today we're covering

📉 Toronto New Home Sales Plummet to Record Low

🚧 Alberta Sees 54% Surge in New Home Construction

💸 BMO Expects $906 Million in Losses from Mortgages

🛑 No More Canadian Work Permits for Visitors

🍁 Canada Launches Public Land Bank

🤔 WTF of The Week

Read Time: 4 minutes

📉 Toronto New Home Sales Plummet to Record Low

• New home sales in the Toronto area hit a record low for July, down 70% below the 10-year average.

• There are now 15 months of inventory on the market due to declining sales.

• Condominium apartment sales were down 67% from July 2023 and 81% below the 10-year average. 

• Single-family home sales were down 1% from last year and 42% below the 10-year average.

• Industry experts warn of a potential future housing shortage due to the current slowdown in construction.

🚧 Alberta Sees Surge in New Home Construction

• Alberta had 21,000 housing starts in the first six months of 2024, a 54% increase compared to last year and a record pace.

• Calgary had 11,178 housing starts, a 38% increase compared to last year.

• Edmonton had 8,448 housing starts, a 67% increase compared to last year.

• Single detached homes, row housing, and multi-family projects are included in the Alberta numbers.

💸 BMO Expects $906 Million in Losses from Mortgages

• Growing financial strain on borrowers leads to increased provisions for credit losses with BMO setting aside 84% more than last year

• 90+ day delinquencies in mortgage portfolio rise to 0.24%

Mortgage Portfolio

• 32% of variable-rate mortgages are still in negative amortization, down from the 62% peak, with $15.1 billion worth of mortgages.

• 14% of mortgage balances ($22.6 billion) to renew in the next 12 months, with another 70% of the mortgage portfolio up for renewal after fiscal 2025.

• Remaining amortizations for BMO residential mortgages:

  • 16-20 years: 14.6%

  • 21-25 years: 32.4%

  • 26-30 years: 22.3%

  • 30 years and more: 20.9%

🛑 No More Canadian Work Permits for Visitors

• As of August 28, 2024, visitors in Canada can no longer apply for work permits from within the country.

• IRCC states the policy was being misused by "bad actors" to mislead foreign nationals into unauthorized work.

• This change is part of broader efforts to combat immigration fraud and reduce temporary resident levels

• Other recent changes include: 

  • Pausing some Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications for low-wage stream workers in areas with high unemployment.

  • Restricting employers to hiring only 10% of their workforce through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

  • Reducing the maximum employment term for low-wage stream workers from 2 years to 1.

Why This Matters: This policy change could reduce the number of temporary workers staying in Canada, potentially impacting rental demand in certain markets. It may lead to shorter-term rentals as visitors might not be able to extend their stay through work permits. 

🍁 Canada Launches a 'Land Bank' for Builders

• This tool connects builders with federal properties available for lease.

• Builders can submit plans to convert existing facilities on these properties into housing.

• Currently, the Canada Public Land Bank features 56 federal properties.

• This initiative addresses Canada's housing shortage by utilizing existing federal land assets.

Check out the tool here --> Canada Public Land Bank.​

🤔 WTF of The Week