The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 25

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The International News Weekly MONEY/REAL ESTATE December 15, 2017 | Toronto 18 5% drop in home sales forecast in 2018 The Canadian Press TORONTO: The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has cut its home sales forecast for next year due to the impact of tighter mortgage regulations that come into effect New Year's Day, which are expected to rein in spending for some buyers. CREA said in an updated projection Thursday the banking regulator's revised mortgage underwriting guidelines, which include a stress test for uninsured mortgages, will reduce sales activity across the country, particularly in and around Toronto and Vancouver. The association now forecasts a 5.3 per cent drop in national sales to 486,600 units next year. That new estimate shaves about 8,500 sales from its previous 2018 forecast. The national home price is expected to slip by 1.4 per cent in 2018 to $503,100. "With some homebuyers likely advancing their purchase decision before the new rules come into effect next year, the 'pullforward' of these sales may come at the expense of sales in the first half of 2018," CREA said in a statement. "Meanwhile, other potential homebuyers are anticipated to stay on the sidelines as they save up a larger down payment before purchasing and contributing to a modest improvement in sales activity in the second half of 2018." In November, the number of homes sold through its Multiple Listing Service rose by 3.9 per cent compared with October, led by a 16 per cent sales spike in the Greater Toronto Area. Sales were up 2.6 per cent from last November, marking the first year-over-year increase since March. That helped send the national home price up 2.9 per cent, yearover-year, to $504,000. The number of newly listed homes rose 3.5 per cent in November, which reflected a large increase in new supply across the GTA. In October, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions announced the final version of its revised guidelines, called B-20. The new rules, which come into effect on Jan. 1, require would-be homebuyers to prove they can still service their uninsured mortgage at a qualifying rate of the greater of the contractual mortgage rate plus two percentage points or the five-year benchmark rate published by the Bank of Canada. CREA argues the new guidelines make it tougher for potential buyers with more than a 20 per cent down payment to qualify for a mortgage. These lowratio mortgages comprise the vast majority of Canadian mortgage originations, it added. The association also narrowed its forecast for national sales activity this year. It expects sales to decline four per cent to 513,900 units in 2017 due to weak activity in Ontario, after the province in April announced measures such as a foreign buyers tax to cool the market. However, the association expects the national average price of a home to rise this year to $510,400, up 4.2 per cent compared to 2016. Canadian households in $2.1-trillion debt Agencies OTTAWA: The amount Canadians owe relative to their income hit a new high in the third quarter. Statistics Canada said Thursday that household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income increased to 171.1 per cent, up from 170.1 per cent in the second quarter. That means there was $1.71 in credit market debt, which includes consumer credit and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, for every dollar of household disposable income. Benjamin Reitzes, Canadian rates and macro strategist at the Bank of Montreal, said the upward trend in household debt continues unabated. "And, with homebuyers rushing to get into the market ahead of the new OSFI rule change that takes effect on Jan. 1, 2018, we could see a further increase in Q4," Reitzes wrote in a report. "However, that suggests we could see some flattening out of the ratio in 2018 — though don't bet on it as housing has been persistently resilient." Household debt is often cited as a key risk to the Canadian economy by the Bank of Canada and others. In a report last month, the OECD said high house prices and associated debt levels remain a substantial financial vulnerability in Canada. "A disorderly correction would adversely impact growth and could threaten financial stability," the organization said. Statistics Canada said the household debt service ratio, measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest as a proportion of household disposable income, was relatively flat at 13.9 per cent, while the interestonly debt service ratio was 6.3 per cent, down from 6.4 per cent in the previous quarter. The Bank of Canada has raised its key interest rate target twice this year, moves that have led to increases in the prime rates at the country's big banks used to set loans like variable-rate mortgages. Bank economist Josh Nye noted the debt service ratio will increase as the Bank of Canada continues to gradually raise interest rates. Total household credit market debt grew to $2.11 trillion in the third quarter, up 1.4 per cent from the previous quarter. The increase came as mortgage debt increased 1.5 per cent to $1.38 trillion, while consumer credit rose 1.2 per cent to $620.7 billion. Meanwhile, the total net worth of the household sector edged down 0.1 per cent to $10.61 trillion in the third quarter. The move lower was due to a drop in home values as housing resale prices weakened. The value of household financial assets edged up 0.1 per cent. 35% Indian businesses pay no tax Agencies NEW DELHI: Around 4 lakh people contribute 95 per cent of GST collections, while 35 per cent of those who have filed returns mostly paid no tax, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday. He provided these figures emerging from studies in response to a query at industry chamber Ficci's 90th AGM here on whether the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is proving a burden for small businesses. "According to studies done on GST collections, of all those who have registered in the new regime, 95 per cent of the taxes comes from 400,000 people, who are paying irrespective of the procedure involved," he said. "For 35 per cent of the returns, the tax paid is either mostly nil, or negligible," he said. Admitting that the return compliance burden was a legitimate issue being examined by the GST Council, Jaitley said this "federal institution" had successfully managed to rationalise the rates for many items "in a span of 3-4 months". "It is important that we continue the structural changes towards greater formalisation of the economy and more rationalising of GST looking at global tax rates," he said addressing the Ficci's AGM. classified • Looking for a suitable professional match for a Ghumiar Sikh boy, 29/5'-11", Pharmacist, Permanent resident Canada, Please Contact @647-718-4900; +91- 9815402919, Email:sukhdevjeor@yahoo.ca • Match for good looking Ramgarhia Sikh clean shaven boy. 06' 03" 31 years. India born canadian citizen. Own business. No bars. Email pictures and biodata to : jpsingh3644@gmail.com or call 647-991-4575 • Seeking a suitable match for a 26 year old Jatt Sikh boy. Height 5’ 8”, qualification +2 diploma in hotel management. Indian born and citizen, visiting Canada till September 2017. Looking for Indian born Canadian PR or citizen girl. Contact 416-659-1581. • Hindu Khatri Boy, age 26 years, height 5’7”, BBA, looking for Canadian PR or Citizen girl from Canada. The boy is in Canada these days on visitor visa. For more info call 1-403-460-9343 or 1-587-707-9343 • Handsome sikh Ahluwalia boy, well educated, 26 years, 5’9”, vegetarian. Does not drink/smoke. Postgraduate and working in a govt office. Looking well educated PR/citizen girl from GTA area. Girl should be vegetarian and from good family background. Caste no bar. For more information call 647-408-8737 or email harmindersinghwalia48@gmail.com Artificial intelligence coming to 70% Indian companies by 2020 Indo-Asian News Service BENGALURU: As firms' appetite for the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) grows, a report on Thursday said 68.6 per cent Indian organisations might deploy it before 2020. The Intel India commissioned report, undertaken by the International Data Corporation (IDC) that surveyed 194 Indian organisations across sectors, said 71 per cent are looking at increased process automation as a key benefit which could drive spike spends on this technology by 2020. The report also said that nearly 75 per cent of the firms surveyed anticipate benefits in business process efficiency and employee productivity with the use of AI. While 64 per cent of the respondents believe that this technology can empower them in revenue augmentation through better targeting of offers and improved sales processes, 76 per cent of the companies are or believe that they will face a shortage of skilled personnel to harness the power of AI. "This research is a small step towards comprehending this knowledge, and enabling companies, such as ours, shape strategy and move ahead in the right direction," Prakash Mallya, Managing Director, Sales and Marketing Group, Intel India, said in a statement. Intel currently powers 97 per cent of data centre servers running AI workloads worldwide and has been investing in the development of the ecosystem in India. "Indian enterprises have been quick to adopt AI in the recent past, with nearly one in five organisations (22.2 per cent) across the four verticals surveyed implementing the technology in some way. This number is anticipated to soar considerably by mid-2019 with nearly seven in 10 firms (68.6 per cent) anticipated to deploy (it)," the company said. Retail and BFSI organisations are leveraging AI to increase efficiency in their sales and marketing function, which has emerged as the second most popular use case.
www.luxurylights.ca Chandeliers & Accessories 4220 Steeles Ave. West, A8 Woodbridge L4L 3S8 The Canadian Press TORONTO: An electri- Continued on page 04 Agencies WASHINGTON: TORONTO: Agencies Issue No : 08 sB qoN Gwt hvfeI krfey dI grMtI ikRpf krky iek vfr syvf df mOkf jLrUr idAu Air Ticket Cruises Vacation Packages Insurance 50018836 Continued on page 02 The International News Weekly December 15, 2017 | Toronto 19 The LOWEST AIRFARES ARE GUARANTEED 905-856-9999 Lamps LED Pendants Bathroom Lights Wa l Sconces Semi-Flush Mounts w w w . c a n a d i a n p a r v a s i . c o m Email: editor@canadianparvasi.com Contact Number : 905-673-0600 August 18, 2017 | Pages 24 Fire scare at Toronto's CN Tower FOR ALL YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS After 40-year ban, US starts selling crude oil to India Brampton's Harinder Dhaliwal jailed for 20 years in US in $130m drug racket Balwinder Singh Sales Representative Dir: 647-273-2025 balthind72@gmail.com 31 Melanie Drive, Unit 4 Brampton, ON L6T 5H8 North America’s Largest Punjabi Culture & Sikhism Store Happy Janamashtmi Wedding Decor Available for Rentals Tel: 905-791-1515 / 905-799-9400 30 Melanie Drive, Unit 10, Brampton, ON L6T 4L4 Read our ePaper Online Get the latest news for India, South Asia & Canada in one place thecanadianparvasi.com DOWNLOAD OUR APP
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The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 25

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