Posthaste: The risk of forced home sales is rising in Canada, warns economist

News Snapshot:

housing-market-1107-ph A chill has settled over Canada’s housing market and the big fear of any downturn is that heavily indebted homeowners will be forced to sell, fuelling a downward spiral. Capital Economics says it is now seeing signs that those risks are rising. The focus of the economists’ concern is mortgages refinanced with non-bank lenders. Chartered banks must ensure that borrowers meet mortgage stress tests, but alternative lenders are less regulated. Statistics Canada data show that the share of non-bank mortgages in the second quarter was no higher than in late 2021, before the Bank of Canada began raising interest...