News: Mortgage approvals: The Whole Story

The latest mortgage statistics show big headline rises in market activity. But is that the whole story?

INE's recent release of December 2015 mortgage data lets us take a deeper look at what happened in 2015, and the headline news is good: Mortgage approvals in December were up 22% year-on-year, and the full year's data showed there were 17% more mortgages issued in 2015 than 2014.

This is a remarkable 19-month run of growth.

It probably isn't time to relax yet: Mortgage activity is still 80% below its peak in 2006 and the provincial picture is very mixed:

With the economy improving and unemployment continuing to come down, we're certain the domestic market will be back – albeit it could be a long journey. One of our agents said it a whole lot more succinctly:

“If you're still alive after the tough times, better times will be a no-brainer. The trick is staying smart until they come."

We think better times are coming.