AGENT LICENSE ID
10280
BROKERAGE LICENSE ID
#10280
Karen Matthey
Co-Owner / Mortgage Agent Level 2
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Address:
775 Blackburn Mews, Kingston, Ontario
BROWSE
PARTNERS
Welcome to a new way of getting a mortgage! My job is to work with your realtor and lawyer to make the mortgage process as straightfoward and stress-free as possible.
I bring over 10 years of experience in finance to the job, having started my career in Europe and Asia as an Investment Banker before returning to Canada in 2011 to become a Mortgage Agent.
I was raised in Kingston and attended Queen's University, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree in 2003. Both my father and brother work as Mortgage Agents and together we form the Matthey Mortgage Team, with a combined 60+ years of mortgage and finance experience.
Phone: 613 384 4000 ext 248
Email: karen@mtgprof.com
BLOG / NEWS Updates
Investors are more prominent among small condominium apartments in Toronto and Vancouver
Condominium apartments are the most common type of property owned by investors in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) like Toronto and Vancouver. In 2022, nearly two in five condominium apartments (38.9%) in the Toronto CMA were investment properties, while this was the case for about one in three (34.2%) in the Vancouver CMA. In these CMAs, new condominium apartment projects often rely on presales to investors to be built. Investors buy pre-construction units with the goal of making a profit when the buildings are completeeither by renting them out or by selling the unit at a higher price. These pre-construction sales are used by developers to secure financing for the projects. This dynamic means that investor preferences may have an influence on the type of buildings that get built.
One concern with this process is that it may lead to the construction of more properties with smaller units. Investors are perceived to prefer these units because rent per square foot of living area tends to be higher for smaller units. This may have contributed to the shrinking size of condominium apartments in CMAs. For example, in the Toronto CMA, the median living area of condominium apartments built in the 1990s was 947 square feet, compared with 640 square feet for those built after 2016. In the Vancouver CMA, the median size also declined over the same period, from 912 square feet to 790.
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/241003/dq241003a-eng.htm
CMHC Residential Mortgage Industry Report
HIGHLIGHTS
Renewal risk remains as 1.2 million mortgages will come up for renewal in 2025. Most of these will experience higher interest rates than when their term began: 85% of those were contracted when the Bank of Canada rate was at or below 1%.
The mortgage delinquency rate continued to rise from historic low levels in 2024, reaching 0.19% in the second quarter, with delinquency rates on other credit products, and allowances for expected credit losses both suggesting it will continue to increase through 2025. However, this remains below pre-pandemic levels and well below averages since 1990.
Traditional lenders experienced two very different quarters to begin 2024. The first quarter showed higher risk lending compared to 2023, but in the second quarter newly extended mortgages had lower risk based on traditional risk metrics.
Overall mortgage debt increased to $2.2 trillion in July 2024, which exacerbates the vulnerability of elevated household debt. This growth (3.5% year-over-year) is below recent averages, but lower interest rates could accelerate the increase.
Alternative lenders saw an increase in lending during the first quarter of this year compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, indicating renewed momentum to sustain their market share from a year ago. However, their risk profile has increased compared to last year.
Mortgages with terms of three or more years but less than five years are the most popular, with over half of new mortgages having terms in this range. The traditional five-year, fixed-rate mortgage and variable rate mortgage both represent a small share of the newly extended loans.
https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sites/cmhc/professional/housing-markets-data-and-research/housing-research/research-reports/housing-finance/residential-mortgage-industry-report/2024/residential-mortgage-industry-report-fall-2024-en.pdf
BMO: Consumers plan to spend less this holiday season
The BMO Real Financial Progress Index reveals that amid growing concerns about the cost of living (54%) and their overall financial situation (36%) 79% of Canadians are planning to cut back on spending this holiday season. The surveys insights provide an outlook on Canadians holiday spending plans, including:
The holiday price tag:
On average, Canadians plan on spending more than $1,991 this holiday season, including travel ($1,802), holiday gifts ($519), entertaining ($295), decorations ($141) and other holiday expenses ($275).
Nearly a quarter (23%) plan on spending more than $2,000 during the holidays.
Making a list and checking it twice:
79% plan on buying fewer gifts this year, and over a quarter (27%) will cut down the number of people on their gift list.
More than a third (36%) plan on buying less expensive gifts.
Sleighing spending:
41% are spending less on fewer gifts, and 44% had cut back on spending on other occasions, including birthdays and anniversaries, throughout the year in order to spend more on holiday gifts.
Nearly half (49%) admit to spending more than they know they should.
https://about.bmo.com/consumers-plan-to-spend-less-this-holiday-season-heres-how-bmo-can-help-make-holiday-budgeting-easier/
