Mortgage brokers in Simcoe County and the surrounding area are encouraged by the return of buyers to the market and renewals amid concerns of future defaults this year.
"As much as people want to buy bigger houses and things like that, they have been limited in terms of those higher rates," said Jason Nugent, a mortgage broker with Dominion Lending in Newmarket. "But because of the halt on hikes, we've actually seen some optimism return to those seeking to re-enter the market."
The Bank of Canada's halt on rate hikes occurred earlier this month after a year of hikes to slow down inflation nationwide.
"In fact, we've actually seen a little bit of a reduction in the rates in the last week or so," said Michael Oziel, Mortgage Broker with Sherwood Mortgage Group. "We're starting to see a lot of buyers coming off the sidelines and get back into the pre-approval process."
However, only some have been able to qualify for conventional mortgages.
A November 2022 report from CMHC revealed 33 per cent of borrowers renewed with alternative lenders in the third quarter of 2022, up from 29 per cent the year prior.
"When you look at the gig economy, people working hourly, two or three jobs, the banks have certain restrictions about how much time you have to be on that job before we can use that income," Nugent said. "So we have seen a small increase in defaults, but we're still very stable."
Simcoe County's default rate currently sits at 0.47, which Michael Oziel said is a sign of resiliency.
"How people have been ensuring that their finances are in order to withstand these rates, I'm actually quite impressed with how low defaults have been," he added.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a speech to Ukraine's parliament, where he called the war-torn country's fight against Russia's invasion a battle 'for the future of us all.' This comes after Trudeau announced Canada will be spending $500 million to help Ukraine's military fight Russia's invasion.
Fires across the country are burning millions of hectares of land but what does that really look like? CTVNews.ca compared the blazes to some cities and lakes in the country showing just how big they have gotten.
Foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston has resigned, CTV News has confirmed. In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Johnston cited the intense politicization of his appointment and work, as the reason for his coming departure.
Ahead of the release of her interim report on progress as Canada's special interlocutor on unmarked graves at former residential schools, Kimberly Murray says lawmakers at all levels of government shouldn’t be waiting for her findings to act.
A Ukrainian-Canadian teenager is on an emotional journey to capture the destruction of the Russian invasion, including of his childhood home, on camera.
A recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Preventative Medicine Reports by a group of international researchers has found that post-secondary students with unhealthy eating habits can go on to suffer from disease and mental health issues for years to come.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump is facing 37 felony charges related to the mishandling of classified documents, according to an indictment unsealed Friday that alleges that he described a Pentagon 'plan of attack' and shared a classified map related to a military operation.
Showers are predicted Saturday over the aggressive wildfire threatening Tumbler Ridge, but forecasters say thunderstorms could sweep through the parched region without bringing any rain.
Police say a woman in central Nova Scotia has been fined nearly $29,000 for having an unsupervised outdoor fire in the midst of a provincewide fire ban.
Nova Scotia says it has identified more details about the records stolen in a file transfer service cyber attack, impacting teachers, students and health care workers' records.
The next 48 hours will be crucial in Quebec's wildfire fight in northern and western parts of the province, with rain forecast for Monday but warmer, humid temperatures expected until then.
Three of the province's nine Cree communities are threatened by wildfires, including Waswanipi and Mistissini. But only Oujé-Bougoumou, about 500 kilometres north of Montreal, has been evacuated completely.
There is a divide at the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake that seems bound to complicate the process of cleaning up a toxic dump that has the potential to hurt the wider environment north of Montreal.
Ottawa police say four men were located on Clarence Street with gunshot wounds at approximately 1:30 a.m. Two of the men suffered life-threatening injuries.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a speech to Ukraine's parliament, where he called the war-torn country's fight against Russia's invasion a battle 'for the future of us all.' This comes after Trudeau announced Canada will be spending $500 million to help Ukraine's military fight Russia's invasion.
Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon says the fraud hotline has been receiving approximately five to 10 reports a day over the past year linked to bus operator "compliance nature", and it is overwhelming her office.
Toronto police have released images of a vehicle used by three suspects to flee the scene of a violent attack outside of a Scarborough mosque last month.
Police have reopened a section of Highway 401 westbound between Woodstock and Cambridge after a crash involving a transport truck and an Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) vehicle resulted in a closure closure.
The Waterloo Region Integrated Drug Strategy (WRIDS) is sounding the alarm after a significant number of drug overdose and poisonings were reported over the last few days.
Three men found guilty in the shooting death of a local woman, a mother opens up after her teenage daughter’s body was recovered by police, and a man was charged with the murder of his estranged wife. Here’s a look at the top stories on ctvnewswindsor.ca this week.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a speech to Ukraine's parliament, where he called the war-torn country's fight against Russia's invasion a battle 'for the future of us all.' This comes after Trudeau announced Canada will be spending $500 million to help Ukraine's military fight Russia's invasion.
The head of Saskatoon’s chamber of commerce responding with frustration to the city’s announcement of a $75 million deficit over the next two years — and the tax hikes that will likely be needed to help makeup some of the the shortfall.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered a speech to Ukraine's parliament, where he called the war-torn country's fight against Russia's invasion a battle 'for the future of us all.' This comes after Trudeau announced Canada will be spending $500 million to help Ukraine's military fight Russia's invasion.
Ahead of the release of her interim report on progress as Canada's special interlocutor on unmarked graves at former residential schools, Kimberly Murray says lawmakers at all levels of government shouldn’t be waiting for her findings to act.
The Moby Dick restaurant has been serving up its famous fish and chips on the White Rock promenade since it was founded by the Mueller family in 1975. But one local city councillor clearly isn’t a fan.
Authorities in West Vancouver say it's lucky more people were not harmed when a driver crashed his car through the entrance of a Whole Foods Friday, coming to a stop in the busy produce section.
