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Notable News of the Week: March 9, 2012

On Fridays, at the end of every work week – Ratehub.ca will review and recap the latest news and trends happening across the Canadian housing and mortgage industries. The news this week was mostly positive involving Canadian banks posting big profits, housing market crash talks cooling, and home affordability getting easier.

CIBC posts profitsBloomberg

The CIBC joins RBC, TD Bank, BMO, and Scotiabank posting profits last quarter. In particular, RBC, TD, and Scotiabank showed a successful quarter with record profit from domestic consumer and business lending. Overall, Canadian consumer lending and business banking earnings rose 5.0%, representing $567 million in revenue.

Good news for Canadian homeownersThe Toronto Star

The Canadian real estate market is expected to cool, not crash as real estate prices should fall gently making home ownership a bit more affordable. Fears of bubble-bursting are over-hyped says Scotiabank’s senior economist. The big bank expects sales and prices to remain relatively flat in the year ahead.

Alberta to lead home sales growth in 2012 –The Calgary Herald

The home of Canada’s cowboys and oil sands are expected to lead the nation in home sales growth at 6.8% this year. As for Canada as a whole, growth is expected to stay relatively flat. CREA’s chief economist, Gregory Kump believes the economic woes of Europe will keep interest rates low for the time being.

Bank of Canada concerned about HELOCsCBC Business

Why is our central bank so worried about home equity lines of credit? Because they fear we rely on it too much for our borrowing purposes. A particular concern is based on the increase of household debt due to borrowing secured by home equity – which in turn, Canadians spend on consumer purchases and home renovations.

The facts on mould –CBC Health

This article raises awareness on how mould can grow in your home, what it does, where it’s found, and how you can remove it. This is a useful article for any homeowner, regardless of the age of your property.

Canadian resale housing forecastThe Canadian Real Estate Associaiton

Home sale activity across Canada is forecasted to remain on par with the 10-year average. The softening of the BC, Ontario, and New Brunswick markets are expected to be offset by rising demand in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia. Last year, multi-million dollar home sales in Vancouver heavily influenced the national average. This phenomenon is not expected to happen in 2012.