What’s shaking Canada’s mortgage market foundation?

By Kathy Catsiliras, Director Consulting Services, Data & Analytics

A series of regulatory changes introduced to address rising affordability issues in the last few years, has cooled down the market and made it tougher for insured mortgage providers. As a result we’ve seen consumers move to the shadow market (ie. unregulated and provincially regulated institutions) thereby creating a shift in lender distributions. For lenders, one key growth avenue may come from optimal retention and acquisition strategies of mortgage switchers/shoppers as well as understanding underlying consumer motivating behaviours. For example - renewing with an existing lender does not require a stress test whereas switching between lenders may, if they are a federally regulated financial institution.

Key growth opportunities for 2019 are likely to come from an expected 9%[1] increase in immigration, growth in the Quebec market and switching activity in British Columbia and Ontario especially from the 2015/2016 mortgages that are up in their term and closed before all the regulatory changes occurred and where consumers are now facing a new landscape of changes.  In Quebec, an increase of non-financed purchases suggests foreign investment continues to be an opportunity. Lastly, digital solutions are a key focus and an expected growth channel in the market. As the digital revolution pushes us to transparency and ease of use, banking services will need to provide instant digital solutions for lending as we see more pre-qualification and pre-approval solutions being digitized.

Download more information here

This blog post is published by Equifax Canada Co.© 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of Equifax Canada Co. This blog post is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice and should not be used, or interpreted, as legal advice.  The information is provided as is without any representation, warranty or guarantee of any kind, whether express or implied.  Equifax will not under any circumstances be liable to you or to any other person for any loss or damage arising from, connected with, or relating to the use of this presentation by you or any other person. 

About the Author

Kathy Catsiliras is the Director of Consulting Services for the Data and Analytics team at Equifax Canada. Over the last 10 years she has held several positions at Equifax Canada. In her current role her primary focus has been to lead the national team of Analytics Consultants who provide sales support to our Consumer and Commercial customers. She has propelled the team by creating an array of frameworks and strategies in delivering insights and designing custom and configurable solutions for our customers. Prior to her current role, Kathy was a Senior Business Consultant and was instrumental in shaping the Telco vertical by formulating and executing risk management and marketing strategies for Equifax’s wide range of solutions. She has supported the Credit Card Monolines and Mortgage Insurers by providing first class consulting services. Kathy also brings seven years at Exchange Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in Loyalty Program analytics. Kathy is equipped with a master's degree in Economics from the University of Waterloo focusing on Econometrics and an honours bachelor of science degree from the University of Toronto in Chemistry and Economics.

More Content by Kathy Catsiliras