Is there a housing bubble?

A weekly roundup of news and views on money, markets, the economy (and more)

There is no housing bubble, and attempts to fix one will cause bigger problems in the long run. That’s one of the conclusions in a new report from Mortgage Professionals Canada, an industry group that represents 11,000 mortgage brokers across the country. (CBC)

As house prices rise, buyers reduce mortgage payments by taking longer to pay. They’re banned for half of Canada’s borrowing public, but loans with 30-year amortizations are becoming the norm for consumers with a down payment of 20 per cent or more. Consumers in the uninsured mortgage market—those with loans not backed by federal government guarantees—are taking advantage of financial institutions letting them stretch out their amortizations. (Vancouver Sun)

The working poor are on the rise in Metro Vancouver. Over 100,000 working-age people in Metro Vancouver were working but stuck below the poverty line in 2012, not counting students and young adults living at home with their parents—and the growing ranks of the working poor are not confined to the city but spread out across the region. (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

We kicked around the working class. With Brexit, it’s kicking back. An economist says Brexit is a revolt of the working class who are lashing out at the institutions that have imposed unfair economic policies. (Globe and Mail)

Negative rates are the tools of our elderly oppressors. While interest negative rates wreak havoc on old people’s savings and pension plans, they can be even more problematic for young people who are left holding the bag of unsustainably generous benefit plans amid sluggish economic growth and newly created austerity drives, says Citigroup. (Bloomberg)