I found the following absolutely fascinating.
https://betterdwelling.com/cmhc-find...t-as-it-seems/
Quote:
The CMHC notes under normal circumstances, a falling ratio would mean an improvement. However, during the pandemic, this indicator is a little broken. Currently the ratio is falling in most cities, while primary income has decreased. The state-owned insurer found primary income fell 7.4% in Q2 2020, while mortgage debt was rising. This would normally lead to a rising ratio.
Government transfers change this ratio dramatically though. The organization estimates CERB boosted incomes by about $50 billion in the quarter. This worked out to nearly 13% of total income. To put it bluntly, government assistance was larger than the amount of income lost. Hence the falling mortgage debt to income ratios, since they’re calculated in aggregate.
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This is showing that Canada's support measures are leaving Canadian house holds better off than the same period in the prior year even though debt has increased as well. It lines up to something discussed earlier where you have people who were making more on the support payments than they were in their jobs.