Macroeconomic Scenarios: Canada's Residential Mortgage Market

The rapid spread of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and the associated economic fallout has brought Canada’s residential real estate market to a near standstill. Prior to the outbreak, the national housing market was heating up. Resale activity and home prices were increasing in early 2020, in large part due to robust population growth, a strong labor market, and declining mortgage rates. In addition, mortgages were performing well, with the share of mortgages in arrears running at just one quarter of one percent.