Canada fears contagion after mortgage lender buckles

Toronto

AS Home Capital Group Inc spiralled downward last week, a group of Canadian real estate brokers relaxing in Mexico brooded over whether the mortgage lender's woes would seep into the housing market and trigger the kind of crisis the country averted in 2008.

"Home Capital was on everybody's lips," Dominion Lending Centres' Jason Georgopoulos said about the industry retreat in Los Cabos, Mexico. In between margaritas and rounds of golf, he saw Home Capital's stock plunge and its debt rating cut to junk from investment grade.

"People were surprised because a lot of them have had a very positive relationship with the company over the last 30 years."

He and other real estate watchers will get an early glimpse of Home Capital's potential impact on the broader housing market on Wednesday, when the Toronto Real Estate Board reports home prices for April. The numbers cover about 10 days of the Home Capital crisis, as well as steps announced by the Ontario government to cool the market that's been a key driver of the …