Housing market volatility did not hamper the Crown corporation's performance
Despite multiple market pressures including an unprecedented interest rate hike campaign by the central bank, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has announced robust results for 2022.
Revenue from CMHC’s mortgage insurance and mortgage funding businesses totalled $2.5 billion in 2022, representing a mere 1% annual decrease.
While expenses increased in 2022, this was mainly due to higher operating expenses “that was mainly driven by the costs incurred to administer the one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit, and an increase in insurance claims expenses,” CMHC said.
“While the unemployment rate, arrears rate, and claims have remained low and the housing price index remained strong through 2022, a prolonged claim reporting period contributed to an increase to the overall provision for claims.”
CMHC declared net income of more than $1.6 billion in 2022, along with dividends of nearly $2.2 billion that were funded “from our retained earnings from prior years,” CMHC said.
CMHC added that its homeowner insurance products helped Canadians purchase 64,266 housing units nationwide, with more than 16% insured in rural areas.
The Crown corporation’s revenues from commercial activities and government funding totalled $6.1 billion in 2022, down by 3% from 2021.
“This was mainly due to a decrease in government funding, driven mainly by lower contributions from the Rapid Housing Initiative, as its 2nd round ended in 2022 and the 3rd round only launched in December,” CMHC said.
