Credit crunch not hitting B.C.
CIBC World Markets report says mortgage arrears in B.C. among nation's lowest
Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
VANCOUVER - Canada has so far avoided being sideswiped by the so-called U.S. credit crunch with British Columbia the farthest away from the potential damage, according to a report from CIBC World Markets.
"Despite the doom and gloom we are witnessing and reading about on a daily basis coming from the U.S. economy, especially when it comes to consumer markets, Canadian households have not noticed [a decline in available credit] in any significant way]," CIBC senior economist Benjamin Tal said in an interview.
And within Canada's economic divide, Tal added that the credit picture "is much better in B.C.," where the commodities-rich economy is performing better than Ontario and Quebec. British Columbians do have the highest debt-to-income levels in the country, given B.C.'s expensive real estate, Tal added, but so far people are managing to handle their big mortgages.
B.C., according to the CIBC report, has the lowest rate of mortgages that have fallen into arrears among all provinces.
