Rockies West Realty, Invermere BC Real Estate : housing

Home Sales to Rise 5 Per Cent This Year

Rockies West Realty — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 21:28:00 GMT

BCREA 2011 Second Quarter Housing Forecast

Vancouver, BC - June 30, 2011. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its 2011 Second Quarter Housing Forecast today.

BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to increase 5 per cent from 74,640 units in 2010 to 78,200 units this year, before increasing a further 3.1 per cent to 80,700 units in 2012.

In the Kootenay area the residential sales forecast is a decrease of 4.8% from 1,995 to 1,900 units with an average price decrease of 5% to $260,000 from $273,723 with a forecast 0.8% increase in 2012 to $262,000.

"Home sales will post some modest gains over the next two years," said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. "However, positive housing fundamentals like job growth, rising wages and an expanding population base will be somewhat offset by higher borrowing costs over the next eighteen months."

"Following a decade where unit sales broke all records, consumer demand over the next few years will be relatively moderate," added Muir. The ten-year BC MLS® residential sales average is 87,000 units. A record 106,300 MLS® residential sales were recorded in 2005.

Read the complete report (pdf)

BCREA Housing Forecast - Second Quarter 2010

Rockies West Realty — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:07:00 GMT

Housing Market Push and Pull: Economic Growth Versus Affordability

Vancouver, BC - June 7, 2010. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its Housing Forecast for the second quarter of 2010 today.

BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to ease back 3 per cent from 85,028 units in 2009 to 82,350 units this year, before increasing 4 per cent to 85,900 units in 2011.

"Eroding affordability will trim home sales by 3 per cent this year despite improving economic conditions and related employment growth," said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. "The push and pull of positive economic growth versus rising mortgage interest rates is expected to keep BC home sales near their 10-year average of 85,569 units both this year and next."

"The average MLS® residential price is forecast to climb 6 per cent to $494,600 this year and remain relatively unchanged in 2011, albeit increasing by 1 per cent to $499,700."

"Strong consumer demand in Vancouver, Victoria and the Fraser Valley was largely responsible for driving the average home price in the province higher over the last three quarters," added Muir. "However, demand has moderated in those markets and a larger inventory of homes for sale has pulled market conditions into balanced territory, providing less upward pressure on home prices."

Read the complete report

Bank of Canada holds interest rates steady

Rockies West Realty — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:38:00 GMT

Canadian Real Estate Association

Published June 5, 2009

Overnight rate stays at 0.25 per cent

The Bank of Canada held its benchmark overnight lending rate steady at 0.25 per cent at its setting on June 4^th, 2009. The trend-setting Bank rate, which is set 0.25 percentage points above the overnight lending rate, remains at 0.5 per cent.

The Bank indicated that economic and inflation outlooks are unfolding largely as it expected when it last cut its benchmark interest rate on April 21^st, 2009. At that time, it forecast the Canadian economy would continue contracting until the fourth quarter of 2009. It also forecast that inflation would to climb back to the two per cent midpoint of its target range between one and three per cent in the third quarter of 2011.

The Bank also reiterated its pledge to hold interest rates at current levels until the end of the second quarter of 2010, conditional on its inflation outlook.

In April, the Bank assessed the overall risks to its inflation projection as tilted slightly to the downside. It reiterated this assessment in its interest rate announcement on June 4^th.

The Bank acknowledged significant improvements in financial conditions and commodity prices, and modest recoveries for consumer and business. However, it expressed concern that these positive economic factors could be fully offset if "unprecedentedly rapid rise in the Canadian dollar proves persistent."

The Bank's benchmark overnight lending rate was dropped in April to what it described as "the effective lower bound for that rate." If it needs to boost economic growth now that interest rates are as low as they can go, the Bank reiterated that it may resort to unconventional means of loosening monetary policy conditions.

The Bank's Monetary Policy Report published on April 23^rd included information about additional monetary policy tools it may use to further inject liquidity into the financial system in its ongoing attack against the continuing credit crunch.

When the Bank cut interest rates on June 4^th, the advertised five-year conventional mortgage rate stood at 5.45 per cent. This is down 1.2 per cent from one year earlier, and unchanged from where it stood when the Bank made its previous interest rate announcement on April 21^st.

The ongoing credit crunch has led mortgage lenders to reduce discounts on advertised mortgage interest rates, and in some cases these have been completely eliminated.

"The Bank has signaled it is prepared to use unconventional tools at its disposal to nurture budding green shoots of economic improvement in Canada," said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. "Among these green shoots is the rebound in recent months of national resale housing activity and average prices."

Canadian Housing Market Shows Some Spring In Its Step

Rockies West Realty — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:32:00 GMT

Scotia Bank Real Estate Trends
Adrienne Warren (416) 866-4315
adrienne_warren@scotiacapital.com

May 5, 2009 - Canada's housing market is showing signs of emerging from its winter hibernation. The Canadian Real Estate Association reported a healthy pickup in home sales nationally in both February and March, beyond the typical seasonal bump, albeit off decade lows in January.

Preliminary reports suggest this firming trend continued in April. Buyers, especially first time, are being lured by historically low mortgage rates, greater affordability and increased supply. The rise in demand, combined with fewer new listings, has restored a better balance to the market.

The national new-listings-to-sales ratio averaged 2.2 in March, down from a cycle peak of 2.7 last November (about 2.0 is considered balanced). Average home prices steadied in February and March, though were still down almost 8% year-over-year (or 5% on a regional salesweighted basis).

These ‘green shoots' are encouraging. On an annualized basis, average home prices in early 2009 are running about 6% below last year's levels, while sales volumes are down 16%. This is tracking a slightly better performance than our forecast for a 10% decline in average prices this year, and at the low end of our forecast for a 15-20% drop in sales.

Read the complete article.

Affordability Drives Home Sales Higher

Rockies West Realty — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:08:00 GMT

Vancouver, BC – April 15, 2009. British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports residential sales dollar volume on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in BC declined 35 per cent to $2.3 billion in March, compared to the same month last year.

Residential unit sales declined 25 per cent to 5,464 units during the same period.

The average MLS® residential price in the province was $424,122 in March, down 12 per cent from March 2008.

“While fewer MLS® residential sales were recorded last month compared to March 2008, home sales actually climbed 24 per cent from February to March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the second consecutive month of gains,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist.

A significant increase in affordability helped fuel housing demand last month. “Reduced mortgage interest rates have effectively doubled the impact of lower home prices on affordability,” added Muir.

While the average sales price in BC declined 12 per cent from a year ago, the monthly payment on the average priced home was 24 per cent lower.

“Housing is now more affordable than at any time in the last three years,” noted Muir.

Read the complete statistics by area.

Home Prices Down; Affordability Improves

Rockies West Realty — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:49:00 GMT

Vancouver, BC – October 15, 2008. British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports residential sales dollar volume on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in BC declined 39 per cent to $2.1 billion in September, compared to September 2007. Residential unit sales were down 34 per cent to 5,107 units during the same period. The average MLS® residential price in the province was $412,149, down 7 per cent from September 2007.

"Weaker consumer demand and a large number of homes for sale are having an impact on home prices in the province," said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. "Despite relatively strong fundamentals, consumer confidence is low. The global liquidity crisis and volatile equity markets are intensifying this sentiment, causing many households to pull back spending on major purchases."

"However, affordability is improving," added Muir. "The carrying cost of the average home in the province is now lower than at any time since the end of 2006."

Year-to-date MLS® residential sales dollar volume in the province declined 24 per cent to $27.5 billion compared to the same period last year. Provincial MLS® sales declined 28 per cent to 59,742 units, while the average residential price increased 6 per cent to $460,621 over the same period.

Read complete statistics

Royal LePage - Canadian Average House Prices Inch Up In Q3

Rockies West Realty — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:54:00 GMT

TORONTO, October 6, 2008 – Home prices in Canada’s resale real estate market continued to grow modestly through the third quarter in most major cities, according to a House Price Survey report released today by Royal LePage Real Estate Services. This dissimilar Canadian trend is in stark contrast to the housing market woes that continue to plague the U.S. Boasting still-affordable homes, resource-rich Regina and St. John’s posted significant double-digit gains, while home prices in Alberta corrected downwards slightly after experiencing a period of unprecedented growth.

2007 marked the peak of Canada’s longest sustained residential real estate market expansion. It was a period characterized by higher than normal annual unit sales, constrained listings supply, and in many cases, sharp price increases. It is not surprising that the regions that had experienced the largest and quickest rise in home value are now experiencing easing price appreciation trends as their markets return to more balanced conditions. [read the complete survey]

Why the Canadian housing market is not set to melt down

Rockies West Realty — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:59:00 GMT

Globe and Mail Update

September 25, 2008

While the “best days” for Canada's real estate markets may be over, comparing the Canadian outlook to the U.S. housing meltdown is off base, two Bank of Nova Scotia economists say in a new report.

Earlier this week, Merrill Lynch Canada economists warned Canada's housing market could be vulnerable to a U.S.-style crash, drawing a response from Prime Minister Stephen Harper rejecting that.

Derek Holt, vice-president of Scotiabank's economics department, and his colleague Karen Cordes, cite several reasons why the Canadian mortgage market is healthier than that of the United States.

They do not mention the Merrill study.

“We do believe that the best days for Canadian housing markets are behind us, and that lower volumes of new home construction and resales lie ahead alongside further fairly modest erosion of house prices,” they write. “Calgary and Edmonton are the most exposed in this regard. But, arguing that consequences to the overall Canadian economy and to debt markets particularly in terms of mortgage-backed securities are as severe as they are in the U.S. is way off base.”

Here are the findings of Scotiabank's Mr. Holt and Ms. Cordes, as printed in their report:

Debt growth over the full cycle

Much is being made of the fact that Canadian debt growth relative to incomes over recent years has been on par with the U.S. experience.

Ergo, one is led to conclude, Canada must face similar stresses to its own housing and mortgage markets.

Nonsense. One must look at the full cycle and use the right measures. Recent Canadian debt growth reflects the unleashing of pent-up demand from the 1990s. Canada's recession in the early 1990s was more severe, and the effects were longer lasting by way of how long it took housing markets and the consumer sector to get back on their feet. The U.S. recession of the early 1990s was comparatively mild, and the economy rebounded faster such that U.S. debt growth over the long-haul has exceeded debt growth in Canada.

Leverage — night and day comparisons

Canada's ratio of household debt-to-income is much lower than the U.S. Despite its popularity, however, this is the worst way to look at leverage since it compares total debt amortized over decades to a single year's after-tax income, which is a stock-to-flow comparison that most economists avoid. One doesn't take out a mortgage on Jan. 1 with the expectation of having to pay it all back out of the current year's income by Dec. 31, so why make the comparison?

The best way to judge the full cycle's influences upon debt growth in Canada versus the U.S. is to look at where the two countries stand today on leverage on the household balance sheet (i.e., debt as a share of assets). This must be done by making adjustments to ensure comparability of Canadian and U.S. household sector balance sheet data. In Canada, total debt as a percentage of total assets sat at 20 per cent as at the end of 2007. The U.S. ratio is about 26 per cent. By corollary, Americans have used nearly 30 per cent more debt to purchase assets than Canadians. Clearly, Americans and Canadians have different debt tolerances.

Canadian mortgage markets are fundamentally healthier than the U.S.

• Canada's subprime market is small (5-6 per cent of outstanding mortgages) whereas the U.S. share peaked at about three times that. As a share of originations, 20-25 per cent of new mortgages in the U.S. were subprime over the 2004-06 period. So Canada isn't anywhere near as exposed to the products that caused most of the damage in U.S. housing markets.

• Not only is Canada's subprime market much smaller, but it isn't even really subprime per se. Canada's subprime market is more like the U.S. near-prime market, whereas the U.S. subprime market often lent to borrowers with extremely impaired quality.

• Adjustable rate mortgage (ARMs) resets also caused many of the problems stateside, but those resets occur much more suddenly in the U.S. By contrast, the closest Canadian product parallel is the variable rate mortgage, but they get constantly repriced so that people aren't caught offguard years later. Furthermore, in Canada, some variable rate products adjust the principal, not the payment. On balance, the shock effect from payment resets in Canada is nowhere close to what has caused much of the problem in the U.S.

• Canada's mortgage equity withdrawal market isn't like the U.S. We've seen secured home equity lines of credit (Helocs) grow in Canada as a way of withdrawing equity, but nothing like the U.S. withdrawals picture. U.S. homeowners' equity has been in free-fall with mortgage debt growth outpacing housing assets since the early 1990s. Canada, by contrast, retains much higher homeowner equity, and while it may have reached a plateau, the figure has risen in recent years while the U.S. position has deteriorated.

• Mortgage interest is deductible against taxes in the U.S. It generally is not in Canada. That creates vastly different incentives to leverage oneself in the two markets.

• The nature of the products has been very different in Canada versus the U.S. Examples of Canadian innovation like long amortization mortgage products are absolutely nothing like “Ninja” mortgages. Mortgage innovation was needed in Canada, but has been relatively more conservative.

• Further to this latter point, long-amortization mortgage products actually extend the Canadian credit quality cycle. Long amortization periods of over 25 years have been dominant as a share of new mortgage originations since the 40-year mortgage was introduced almost two years ago. However, there is still an overwhelming majority of Canadians who face the option of extending from the previously standard 25-year product into longer amortization products in a manner that lowers their payments in the face of shocks. Even though insured 40-year mortgages are now banned in principle, 35-year mortgages still provide this flexibility.

• Investor mortgages were among the first products to default in the U.S.,where they account for about 9 per cent of all outstanding mortgages, similar to the U.K. (9.5 per cent) and Australia (10 per cent). In Canada, however, they are about 2-3 per cent of all outstanding mortgages. There are problems in the investor segment the world over, but the magnitude of the exposure in Canada is far less significant.

• If there is an imminent problem brewing, then it's not showing up in terms of industry-wide mortgage delinquency patterns. Mortgages 90+ days in arrears in Canada remain at 27 basis points, which is the range around which they've been floating since mid-2004. By contrast, even when the country had double digit variable mortgage rates and double digit unemployment rates in the early 1990s, the peak rate of delinquency was about 65 basis points. We're of the opinion that delinquencies will deteriorate going forward, but will be nowhere close to the U.S. experience.

• The extent of runaway house price inflation was much more muted in Canada than in many other countries. Canada's priciest market is Vancouver, and prices have gone up by about 80 per cent since the mid-1990s start of the global housing cycle. London, England, by contrast, went up by about 270 per cent over this time period. Canada's house price appreciation was, on average, significantly below the U.S. experience since then, and much below the experience of many European countries.

Canadian mortgages are funded, underwritten, and enforced in a totally different manner

• Canada's funding model is completely different from the U.S. The majority of mortgages are held on balance sheet in Canada,with only 24 per cent having been securitized. Thus, much more of Canada's mortgage book is funded by on-book retail deposits than is the case in the U.S. That also makes the banks more conservative about the products they are originating since they are mostly stuck on balance sheet.

• Further, the majority of the securitized totals have been done through the CMHC — a Crown corporation with explicit government backing — thus avoiding the problems in the U.S. caused by the ambiguity of GSE liabilities. Other insured securitizations have been done through private insurers that also receive explicit government backing for the underlying assets through the Canada Mortgage Bond program.

• Furthermore, Canadian financial institutions are not as reliant upon short-term lines extended by other financial institutions. The degree of reliance upon such funding in the U.S. is what caused excessive exposure to short-term swings in market sentiments, not to mention adverse incentive effects.

• Mortgage-Backed Securities were not placed in off-balance-sheet SIV and CDO structures as in the U.S. So, Canada MBS investors do not face the same heavily leveraged investor risks. This is perhaps the most important point, since origination mistakes in the U.S. were bad enough, but what really caused the problems were dollops of leveraging that occurred after the mortgages were originated.

• Unlike many U.S. banks, Canadian banks continue to apply prudent underwriting standards. In other words, they have always checked, and continue to check, incomes, verify job status, ask for sales contracts, etc., such that all those questions your banker asks in Canada have a purpose that somehow got lost on many American bankers. The no-income-no-job-no-asset (“Ninja”) style, here-are-the-keys-to-your-brand-new-home lending just didn't take hold in Canada.

• Appraisal standards are generally higher in Canada, where appraisals are more likely to low-ball estimates of property value before making the final decision on how much to lend.

• Finally, enforcement of Canadian mortgages is not as tilted in the borrowers' favour as it is in the United States. In the U.S., lenders have little recourse — they can take the keys and settle relatively quickly, or sue and go through great expense for a potentially lengthy period. Alberta is similar to the U.S. treatment in this regard. But the rest of Canada provides greater recourse to lenders than in the U.S.

REALTORS® welcome Conservative Party’s first-time homebuyers tax credit

Rockies West Realty — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:41:00 GMT

Published September 18, 2008 CREA

OTTAWA – September 16^th, 2008 – REALTORS® welcomed today’s announcement by the Conservative Party of a proposed tax credit for first-time homebuyers for intended application against closing costs of the purchase of a home.

“The issue of affordability is one that REALTORS® constantly monitor, and we welcome this initiative,” says the President of the Canadian Real Estate Association, Calvin Lindberg.

However, REALTORS® believe that the changes to the existing, well-known Home Buyers Plan that CREA has been advocating for several years will also be an effective way to address the issue of affordability for first-time buyers. CREA proposes that the federal government raise the maximum withdrawal limit in the Home Buyer’s Plan from $20,000 to $25,000. The HBP is a unique program that encourages savings, maximizes down payments and helps first-time homebuyers minimize debt over time.

The current withdrawal limit has not been changed since the program was introduced in 1992. In 2007, using the HBP, nearly 105,000 Canadians borrowed more than $1.2 billion from their personal RRSPs to use as a down payment in the purchase of their first home.

“Research has shown that, despite their enthusiasm for home ownership, first-time buyers, especially younger Canadians, find it a real challenge to finance their first home,” says Mr. Lindberg. ”We welcome any initiative that helps these buyers.”

Ottawa revamps mortgage rules

Rockies West Realty — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:25:00 GMT

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

OTTAWA — The federal government says it will no longer guarantee 40-year mortgages, one of a handful of measures aimed at guarding against a U.S.-style housing bubble.

The Finance Department said Wednesday in a news release that the government will guarantee no mortgages with durations longer than 35 years. The government also will demand a minimum down payment equal to 5 per cent of the value of the home.

“Today's announcement marks a responsible and measured approach by the government to ensure Canada's housing market remains strong and to reduce the risk of a U.S.-style housing bubble developing in Canada,” the Finance Department said.

The government hastened to emphasize that Canada's housing and mortgage markets were performing much better than in the United States.

Canadian housing prices are in line with economic factors such as low interest rates, rising incomes and a growing population and the demand for residential housing remains buoyant at more than 200,000 housing starts a year, it said.

The percentage of bank mortgages in arrears is also stable at 0.27 per cent, the lowest levels experienced since 1990 and well below the highs of 0.65 per cent in 1992 and 1997.

“The historically prudent and cautious approach taken by Canadian financial institutions to mortgage lending, combined with a sound supervisory regime, has allowed Canada to maintain strong and secure housing and mortgage markets,” it said.

It nonetheless noted “accelerated financial innovation” in the mortgage markets since the fall of 2006, for example, allowing loans up to 100 per cent of the value of the house and increasing amortization periods to 40 years from 25 years.

The government will now require a consistent credit score for mortgages it backs, and a minimum level of loan documentation standards to ensure evidence of the reasonableness of property values and the borrowers' income.

In addition, government guarantees will not be allowed for high-ratio mortgages where amortization is not required in the first few years – e.g., mortgages that begin with interest-only payments.

Finally, it will set a maximum of 45 per cent on a borrower's debt-service ratio – the proportion of gross income that is spent on debt service and housing-related fixed or essential payments.

Consumer confidence continues to slide in May

Rockies West Realty — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:36:00 GMT

Reflecting rising fuel and food prices, national consumer confidence posted its third consecutive monthly decline in May 2008, dropping to its lowest level in more than a decade.

Confidence fell in every region in May, with the largest decline in Ontario. In line with the national trend, the index of consumer confidence in Ontario also reached its lowest level in more than a decade.

Consumer sentiment reached its lowest level in almost five years in British Columbia, while in the Prairie region it slid below any other point in more than seven years. In Quebec, sentiment stood about on par with levels recorded at the end of 2005. Consumer sentiment remained strongest in the Atlantic region, but still dipped to its lowest point since last April.

The balance of sentiment about making major purchases, which is an important factor underlying Canada’s housing market, turned negative for the first time in a decade in May 2008. This means that more Canadian households said it was a bad time to buy a big-ticket item, such as a home or car, than said it was a good time. A negative balance of opinion about making major outlays was observed in every region except the Maritimes.

The national balance of sentiment about job growth remained negative for the second straight month in May, and marked the least positive outlook for employment in five years. A negative balance of sentiment results when more households expect there to be fewer jobs in six months time compared to those that expect more jobs. This was mostly the result of concerns for the future of manufacturing positions in Ontario and Quebec. By contrast, the employment outlook remains strong in British Columbia, the Prairies and the Atlantic region.

With higher gas and food prices taking a bigger bite out of Canadian incomes, more survey respondents said their household budget had worsened in the past six months. More also said they expect their household finances to worsen over the next six months. But unlike the balance of sentiment about making major purchases and job growth, the balance of opinion about household budgetary outlooks remains positive, both nationally and in every region except the Atlantic provinces – where opinion turned slightly negative in May.

Canadian Real Estate Association (Jun-03-2008)

Doom and gloom not in cards for Canadian real estate market: analyst

Rockies West Realty — Sun, 04 May 2008 19:39:00 GMT

Despite the recent drop in home sales, Canada's housing market should remain buoyant during the rest of this year, but developers face more difficulty securing loans for projects, analysts say.

A recent Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) report shows home sales declined 13 per cent to 75,467 in the first quarter of this year from 86,728 in the same period in 2007.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba are expected to enjoy the highest sales growth, while B.C. and Alberta remain strong, although down from previous years. But Ontario sales and new-home listings will slow down as a result of sub-prime mortgage defaults and other economic woes south of the border, economic analysts say.

(read complete article)

Home affordability at worst point since 1990: RBC

Rockies West Realty — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:59:00 GMT

Housing affordability in Canada ended last year at its lowest level since 1990, Royal Bank said Friday.

In its quarterly outlook on the cost of owning a home, the bank said affordability eroded in every quarter of 2007 as house prices rose on the strength of the economy and job growth.

Percentage of household income needed to afford a detached bungalow

Vancouver	74%
Toronto	47%
Calgary	42%
Montreal	37%
Ottawa	32%
Source: Royal Bank

RBC assistant chief economist Derek Holt said the home affordability deterioration back in 1990 was driven by soaring interest rates and a recession.

During the fourth quarter of last year, housing affordability in four classes — condominium, townhomes, detached bungalows and two-storey homes — fell across the country, except in the cooling Alberta market.

In Alberta, average prices in all four classes dropped in the October-December quarter, improving affordability.

RBC's affordability study measures how much of pre-tax household income is necessary to carry the cost of owning a home.

Condos most affordable

Nationally, the standard condo remained the most affordable housing type, requiring about 30 per cent of pre-tax household income. A standard townhouse was next at 34.5 per cent, followed by a detached bungalow at 42.5 per cent while a standard two-storey home required 48 per cent.

Rising fixed mortgage rates continue to push up home-ownership costs, but RBC said it sees some improvement on the horizon. The bank said it expects the five-year mortgage rate will drop by three-quarters of a percentage point by the end of 2008.

The bank also said that falling mortgage rates, weakening house price gains and decent income growth should all boost home affordability across most markets.

Holt said new homeowners are taking out longer mortgage amortizations to cope with skyrocketing prices, adding that the 40-year mortgage is now dominating the market.

"We're actually estimating about 60 per cent of mortgage applications in the insured segment are now going for longer amortization products, longer than the traditional cookie-cutter 25-year mortgage," Holt told CBC News.

"And of that share, about half is going into the 40-year mortgage product, and that's an industry-wide figure that's true across most lenders in the marketplace today."

(read the complete RBC analysis)