Tyler Tim Realtor

According to a new study there is trouble brewing in some of the hottest real estate markets in the world. Equifax Canada reported a 52% increase in fraudulent activity in mortgage applications. “We’re certainly seeing more mortgage applications being flagged as suspicious by our reporting institutions,” said vice-president Equifax Canada. One possible explanation for this is unevaluated house prices. While there is no real punishment for this, individuals who file inaccurate claims on a loan based on overvaluations face serious consequences. Two-thirds of all flagged mortgage applications came from Canada; this does not bode well for the Toronto real estate market. Another layer of trouble blankets most of Canada’s major cities. Problematic conditions such as falsified account statements and falsified documents have been found in Vancouver, Victoria, Saskatoon, Regina, and Hamilton. Rapid economic growth in the real estate industry may very well stem from overvaluations lea...

Canada is greatly known for its diverse population; however it has also become visible through the diverse conditions of regional housing markets. Over the last 12 months Canada has fostered some of the world’s hottest and coldest markets. According to global real estate agency Knight Frank, while three Canadian cities ranked among the world’s fastest house price growth markets, four well known cities found themselves at the bottom of the list (see charts below). Yet this superficial indexed figured is misrepresentative of the real situation. Since then the average housing price in Vancouver has dropped 26%, and the top end of the real estate industry has collapsed. This collapse has removed over 40 per cent of the money supply of the corresponding market. As average prices in Vancouver continue to decline, it is likely they will lose their prestigious status at the top of Knight Frank’s list. On the other spectrum of the list, Calgary and Edmonton do not seem to seem...