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Is Now a Good Time to Rent vs. Buy in Canada?

After years of brutal rent hikes that left many Canadians feeling priced out of their own cities, something has quietly shifted: rents are finally falling. But does that mean you should lock in a lease and wait out the housing market — or is this actually the window you've been waiting for to buy? The answer, as always, depends on your city, your finances, and your plans. Here's a clear-eyed breakdown of where things stand in 2026. What's Happening With Rents Right Now The Canadian rental market has undergone a dramatic reversal. After vacancy rates hit record lows in 2023 and rents surged by as much as 8% nationally in a single year, the tide has turned. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the national vacancy rate for purpose-built rental apartments rose to 3.1% in October 2025 — up from 2.2% in 2024 and a record low of just 1.5% in 2023. That 3.1% figure now sits above the 10-year historical average , marking a meaningful shift in the bal...

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US stocks rebound from inflation shock as investors eye Fed comments, earnings



US stock futures rose on Wednesday, looking to recover from a sharp selloff triggered by hotter-than-expected inflation data that dashed hopes for interest-rate cuts before the summer.

Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) futures added 0.2%, signaling a bounce back for the blue-chip index from a 500-point drop and its worst day since March 2022. Futures on the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC) put on roughly 0.4%, while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 ( ^NDX) jumped 0.5% — also on the heels of steep declines.

Investors were gripped by the wild fallout from a typo in Lyft’s ( LYFT) financial update late Tuesday. Shares in the ride-hailing company initially rocketed 67%, but the rally lost steam after Lyft corrected an error in its statement that boosted its profit outlook. The stock remained up a more modest 20% in premarket trading.

A new wave of earnings reports also could deliver some impetus, with Cisco ( CSCO ), Kraft Heinz ( KHC ), and Warren Buffett-linked Occidental ( OXY) among the big hitters on the list.

Comments by Fed officials Austan Goolsbee and Michael Barr in their appearances later in the day could provide more grist for the ever-present debate on rate timing.

Investors are coming to grips with the prospect of the Federal Reserve holding fire on rate cuts until later in the year — and a potential “no landing” scenario for the US economy.

The latest inflation reading showed consumer prices rose more than expected in January, increasing the odds of a “no landing” outcome, which would be a failed attempt of the Fed to quell inflation but, ultimately, would not result in a recession.

Bets on a March interest rate cut are now all but gone. Pricing on the CME FedWatch Tool now places a 39% chance the Fed cuts in May, down from a 67% chance just a week ago.

“In our view, a March cut is now firmly off the table and the chances of a May cut have significantly reduced. But we remain comfortable with our call for rate cuts to begin in June,” Bank of America US economist Stephen Juneau wrote in a research note on Tuesday.

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