Housing-market risk jumps to high in Canadian government rating

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) raised its market risk assessment to high from moderate on Tuesday, in a report showing both activity and prices remain near record levels reached earlier this year amid rock-bottom mortgage rates and a frenzy for bigger living spaces driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. (Pic shows a worker cutting a notch into a beam as a roof beam is moved into position at Norse Log Homes in Lantzville, British Columbia, Canada, on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021. Vancouver benchmark home prices are up 13.2% in August from a year ago.)

CANADA’S housing agency said the country is now at high risk of a sharp correction in home valuations as the continued appreciation in prices becomes unmoored from economic fundamentals.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC) raised its market risk assessment to high from moderate on Tuesday, in a report showing both activity and prices remain near record levels reached earlier this year amid rock-bottom mortgage rates and a frenzy for bigger living spaces driven by the Covid-19 pandemic.