by Allen Ehlert | October 10, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Real Estate
How Canada’s Prime Rate Impacts You In an economy where a mere quarter-point adjustment can send ripples across markets, it’s worth noting that Canada’s prime rate influences over CA$1.69 trillion worth of residential mortgages. This staggering...
by Allen Ehlert | August 5, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Real Estate
Why was it necessary for OSFI to mandate the implementation of the mortgage stress test? The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) mandated the implementation of the mortgage stress test in Canada for several key reasons, primarily aimed at...
by Allen Ehlert | July 24, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance
Demystifying the Inverted Yield Curve Phenomenon Have you ever wondered why investors are so obsessed with the inverted yield curve? Let’s dive into the world of finance and understand why this concept holds such significance in predicting economic trends. What...
by Allen Ehlert | July 23, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Real Estate
… Why Canadians Pay More in Taxes than on Food, Shelter & Clothing Combined” If it feels like your paycheque doesn’t stretch as far as it used to, you’re not imagining things. Canadians today spend more on taxes than on food, shelter, and clothing combined—the...
by Allen Ehlert | July 16, 2025 | Economy, Mortgage Terms, Mortgages, Real Estate
…And Why It Matters More Than Ever If you’ve been chatting with clients or colleagues lately, you’ve probably noticed that the question on everyone’s mind is: Who’s actually buying real estate right now? It’s a fair question. The headlines are full of doom and gloom...
by Allen Ehlert | June 24, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance
Decoding How the Bank of Canada Influences the Economy Using its intricate workings, let’s get into how the Bank of Canada steers interest rates to shape the entire economy. From influencing borrowing costs to guiding inflation, the BOC’s policies have a...
by Allen Ehlert | June 20, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Real Estate
Let’s cut to the chase—owning a home in the Greater Toronto Area used to be a realistic goal for middle-income Canadians. Now? Not so much. If you’re earning a decent salary but still can’t afford to buy (or even rent without stress), you’re probably...
by Allen Ehlert | June 11, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Real Estate
Canada’s Financial Snapshot for Mortgage Renewal, Refinancing, or Buying Whether you’re renewing, refinancing, or getting ready to jump into homeownership, let’s sit down and chat about something that directly affects your financial future: Canada’s financial...
by Allen Ehlert | June 9, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Real Estate
“Supply, supply, supply.”If you’ve spent any time in the world of Canadian housing policy—or if you’ve even just watched the evening news—you’ve probably heard that phrase tossed around as the magic bullet to solve our housing crisis. But...
by Allen Ehlert | June 8, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Real Estate
We talk a lot about high home prices in Ontario—land costs, construction costs, interest rates. But there’s a quieter, less visible factor that doesn’t get enough airtime: provincial downloading. In plain terms, downloading is when the provincial government offloads...
by Allen Ehlert | June 7, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Real Estate
Why Provinces Download Onto Municipalities: Follow the Money (and the Politics) If you’ve ever wondered why Ontario’s cities are straining to pay for everything from public housing to transit to stormwater pipes, the answer lies in a quiet but powerful political...
by Allen Ehlert | June 2, 2025 | Economy
In the Bank of Canada Staff Discussion Paper 2025-5, titled Will Asset Managers Dash for Cash? Implications for Central Banks, economic researchers discuss how asset managers play a crucial role in financial markets, managing trillions of dollars in securities and...
by Allen Ehlert | May 23, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Real Estate
Anyone who has been following what is going on in the current real estate market knows we are faced with a profound contradiction: too many listings in the midst of a housing crisis wherein we are undersupplied with homes. It’s nuts! In my town, the housing market is...
by Allen Ehlert | May 19, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Real Estate
You don’t need to be a real estate expert to feel it: house prices seem out of reach for the average family. But why? What’s keeping prices so high when affordability has clearly left the building? As someone who gets into roughly a hundred homes every month,...
by Allen Ehlert | May 17, 2025 | Economy, Mortgages, Personal Finance, Real Estate
Canada is no stranger to natural disasters. From wildfires in British Columbia to severe floods in Ontario and Quebec, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and costly. Beyond their immediate devastation, these disasters also have long-term economic...
