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Southern Europe’s cash-strapped governments are courting wealthy Chinese homebuyers, seeking to bolster their battered real estate markets by offering visas to those who purchase prime properties.

Cyprus ...

Those looking to gain a foothold in Metro Vancouver’s already pricey housing market are facing another hurdle as key financial institutions across the country move to hike mortgage rates.

On Thursday, five-year fixed mortgage rates edged near the four-per-cent range at many financial institutions after hovering near the three-per-cent mark for months. RBC posted its five-year rate at 3.89 pe ...

The discount mortgages that stoked the Canadian housing boom are disappearing, increasing the likelihood of a correction in home values.

On Thursday, Royal Bank of Canada will hike its five-year fixed-rate mortgage to 3.89 per cent, one day after the Bank of Montreal raised its rate to 3.79 per cent. The other major lenders are all moving in the same direction.

The increases mean the cost o ...

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he isn’t planning new measures to restrain the country’s housing market because his past four rounds of action have already worked to avoid a bubble.

“So far, I’m satisfied that we have a balance in the real estate sector,” Flaherty told reporters in Wakefield, Quebec, at the start of a policy retreat with business leaders. “There are some bumps al ...

New rules designed to cool hot housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver could send a chill through Ottawa's real estate sector, according to an Ottawa real estate ...

Home sales in B.C. soared last month, the highest number for the month of July in eight years, according to the British Columbia Real Estate Association.

The association on Wednesday said a total of 7,650 residential sales were recorded on the Multiple Listing Service, up 18 per cent from July of 2012.

The average MLS price in the province was $534,360, up 12.5 per cent from July 2012.

Cam ...

Most Canadian mortgage lenders fund some portion of their mortgage lending using CMHC’s National Housing Act Mortgage Backed Securities (NHA MBS). That is, cash flows from mortgages are aggregated into investment securities and then sold to investors through a process called securitization. Payments from these mortgage backed securities are guaranteed by the CMHC, and therefore backed by the ...

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is putting a cap on the amount of mortgage-backed securities sold by banks that it is willing to guarantee.

A spokesperson with CMHC confirmed media reports Monday that the national housing agency will, effective immediately, limit banks and other mortgage lenders to $350 million worth of new mortgage-backed securities per month. The decision comes in th ...

If you’ve ever wondered how well the Bank of Canada does its job, check out this chart below from economist Sheryl King.

Sunny weather did not slow the pace of home sale activity in July. Last month was the highest selling month of the year in Greater Vancouver and the highest selling July since 2009.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver reached 2,946 on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in July 2013. This represents a 40.4 per cent ...

Coming up with a down payment is often the biggest hurdle for first-time home buyers. Here are some suggestions:

1.   Ask your parents, other relatives or friends for help. If they can't give or loan any money, perhaps they'll agree to co-sign the loan.

2.   Sell (or borrow against) other real estate you own. 

3.   Sell securities you own, or borrow against them through a loan from the stock ...