Oil prices have moved into positive territory, albeit a small move, oil rose about 2 percent on Wednesday, recouping some of the previous session’s heavy selloff, on the growing prospect of OPEC and allied producers cutting output at a meeting next month to prop up the market. The price of Brent has fallen by more than 20 percent since early October on concern about excess supply and slowing demand, one of the biggest declines since a price collapse in 2014. U.S. crude had declined for a record 12 consecutive sessions to the lowest since November 2017.
Today the Bank of Canada released its “ The Impact of Recent Policy Changes on the Canadian Mortgage Market”, in its findings the BoC states “The number of new highly indebted borrowers has fallen, and overall mortgage activity has slowed significantly. Tighter policies around mortgage qualification and higher interest rates are having a direct effect on the quality and quantity of credit. At the same time, provincial and municipal housing measures have weighed on housing activity and price growth in certain markets.”
Basically, homeowner debt has improved dramatically to the point that the BoC feels that the number of the riskiest debtors are being removed very quickly, leaving the system on a more stable platform.