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Trends in the Housing Market — GLOBAL DEBT WARNING!

842 views · Published 7 November 2016 · 30:55 · Indexed 30 October 2026

Channel: Mike Martins · 2016 · News & Politics

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Welcome to another edition of Trends in the Housing Market, broadcasting from Vancouver, British Columbia. It’s November 7, 2016, and this week we’re going around the world looking at housing, household debt, interest rates, affordability, foreign-buyer taxes, short-term rentals and the growing pressure on ordinary families.

We start in Britain, where household debt has reportedly reached approximately £1.5 trillion, with the average adult carrying around £30,000 in mortgages, loans and credit-card debt. What concerns me is what happens to heavily indebted households if interest rates eventually start moving upward. After years of extremely low rates, have people become too dependent on cheap borrowing?

Then we're back in Canada, where Ottawa is tightening mortgage qualification rules and introducing tougher stress tests. I actually believe higher interest rates can create a healthier environment when they keep housing prices from running completely out of control and allow savers to earn something on their deposits again.

We're also looking at Whistler, where nightly short-term rentals are being blamed for taking properties out of the long-term rental market. The municipality is considering tighter business-licensing requirements in an effort to return some inventory to workers who actually need somewhere to live.

Then we go international.

Vancouver is slowing. Toronto is still booming. Sydney remains incredibly expensive. Shanghai's housing market is showing signs of cooling. UK prices have surprised analysts by moving higher again.

One of the biggest questions I'm asking is whether housing has become too important to Canada's economy. Housing shouldn't operate like a speculative stock market. People need somewhere to live, put down roots and raise their families. When housing prices continually outrun wages, eventually something has to give.

We're also watching Canadian household debt, which has climbed dramatically alongside the decade-long housing boom. If households are this leveraged while interest rates remain near historic lows, what happens when borrowing costs eventually normalize?

That's why I'm putting these stories together every week: Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, London, Shanghai, Whistler and beyond.

These aren't isolated housing markets anymore. We're watching an increasingly interconnected global housing and debt story unfold.

Comment below and tell me what you're seeing where you live.

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