A couple of years ago (2014?) my wife and I were on a weekend outing to Owen Sound. At one point I was talking to one of the guys who worked in the hotel. 

He told me about a friend and his wife. They both had middling sort of jobs and he figured together they pulled in $40/hr. You do the math and their income would probably be in the 70-80K range. Make some guestimates about CPP, EI and income tax and I'd guess take-home pay would be something like 65K.

They went to PC Financial and were pre-approved for a 600K mortgage. (!!!)

So the banks were shoveling out money to anyone they could find, I suspect. Then they would take out CMHC mortgage insurance and . . . Well, if they defaulted, the bank would be insured against losses. 

Last year CMHC finally imposed a 'Stress Test' (i.e. would the people be able to still pay with higher interest rates) and now interest rates are starting to creep up. 

So the great flow of money is slowing down. 

Entirely predictable. (Tulip bulbs anyone?)