September 8, 2010
Canada’s Housing Market Has Stable Underpinnings
Did you know a U.S.-style housing slowdown is unlikely in Canada, says the C.D. Howe Institute. A decline in underwriting standards played a key role in the American housing boom and bust. That has not been the case in Canada, says the Institute. Canadian housing policies “worked well in reducing the possibility of a housing bust in Canada,” said the report. Virtually all the major economists have already said that a U.S.-style meltdown will not happen in Canada. Canada’s relative strength to the U.S. is our federal government policy disallowing banks from engaging in very high risk loans. “It will be in the interest of all Canadians if policy makers recall the lessons of the 2008 to 2009 experience should pressures to relax underwriting standards reoccur in the future,” says the Institute.
