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Reverse mortgage upstart Bloom attracted $7 million of capital last month.

The series A round was led by St. Louis-based SixThirty Ventures, which focuses on quality late seed-stage fintechs.

We caught up with Bloom CEO Ben McCabe to see what this means for the company and its customers. He left us with new market insights and a teaser of what's to come.

Fifteen months into this harrowing tightening cycle, Canada's real (inflation-adjusted) policy rate is "unequivocally in positive territory." That was BMO Economics' assessment after last week's BoC hike.

Real rates are hard for most to wrap their heads around, but they matter. For one thing, when interest rates are meaningfully above inflation, savers enjoy rising purchasing power. In other words, people's returns outpace price level increases. That creates an incentive to save instead of spend.

At the same time, businesses are less inclined to invest in things like buildings and equipment—because interest expense is so high relative to their revenue potential.

With the BoC tightening the noose on borrowers again, "real rates" are even more positive. This phenomenon is slowing our economy more and more, getting us closer and closer to the disinflation we seek. To quote Axl Rose once again, all we need is just a little patience.

Canadian housing affordability is just about the worst ever.

That's especially problematic for first-time buyers who:

• can barely scrape together the minimum 5% to 7.5% down payment
• have strong credit and solid employment
• have debt ratios above the 39% #GDS#/ 44% #TDS# insurer limits
• can't pass the stress test because of it
• are forced to rent longer as a result.

For folks in this bucket, there's a good chance they'll retire poorer.

That is, they'll lose the opportunity to accumulate tax-free equity appreciation. With soaring rents near all-time highs, it's hard to make that up with rental savings—particularly if future appreciation rates stay anywhere near the historical 5%+ annualized level.

This first-time buyer plight was the impetus for Marathon Mortgage's latest product, a deep discount 6-month mortgage. It launches on Monday, other than in Quebec and the Territories.

Floating-rate borrowers hoped (prayed) the Bank of Canada’s rate pause would last. It lasted all of 133 days.

The Bank was forced to hike before seeing today's vital jobs report, before a cut was priced in and with no press conference Wednesday to explain itself. That's what worried central bankers do after realizing they paused prematurely.

In a competitive mortgage market, brokers sometimes have to take the road less travelled. That includes trying lenders they wouldn’t usually think of.

One lender that most brokers don’t think of is Shinhan Bank Canada, a subsidiary of Korea’s second-largest bank by assets. But it may pay to keep it in mind, and here's why.