Found 57 blog entries tagged as interest rates.

JANUARY 11, 2022

Canada’s central bank quietly updated its real estate affordability index. It wasn’t good news. The Housing Affordability Index (HAI) made a big jump in Q3 2021. Maintained by the Bank of Canada (BOC), the HAI shows the share of income required to service a mortgage on a home. Low rates are no longer helping affordability, but fueling prices that outpace wages. As a result, affordability has now reached the worst level since the Great Recession.

The Bank Of Canada Housing Affordability Index

The BoC Housing Affordability Index shows the share of income needed for housing costs. More specifically, the share of disposable income an average family would use. Housing costs are defined as mortgage payments and utilities.…

574 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Canadian housing market trends 2022

The Canadian housing market has been a fixture in media headlines and an ever-present topic of conversation around dinner tables and water coolers by those who continue to work in an office setting in the wake of COVID-19. Early on in the pandemic, some expected a steep decline in home sales and prices in Canada, but nobody could have predicted what actually materialized in the market. Come May 2020, regional real estate markets began their rebound. The spike in demand continued through 2021, resulting in record-breaking price growth and what many would consider to be the hottest year in Canadian real estate. So, what can we expect in 2022? Here are five trends to keep your eye on.

Interest rates are expected to rise.

…

557 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

DECEMBER 11, 2021

One of Canada’s “Big Six” banks is declaring next year to be “The Year of The Hike.” National Bank of Canada (NBC) chief strategist (and poet-in-residence) Warren Lovely is calling the first interest rate hike in just a few months. He sees the Bank of Canada (BoC) making its hike in March, way ahead of schedule. Over the next year, the overnight rate is forecast to recoup much of the ground lost during the pandemic. However, Canada’s real estate bubble will prevent it from going much further. Since the country went all-in on housing, it can’t pursue more aggressive policies like healthier economies. 

The Bank Of Canada Will Hike Rates In March

Canada is expected to wind up its overly easy monetary policy pretty fast.…

481 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Whether you’re a first-time home buyer or a seasoned property owner, shopping around for a mortgage lender can feel daunting.

With multiple companies, interest rates, and options to look over, finding the best lender for your specific needs can appear overwhelming. However, mortgage brokers and specialists have the tools and knowledge at their fingertips to help borrowers make informed decisions about their home financing.

Image via Pexels

To tell us more about what to look for when choosing a mortgage lender, we recruited the advice of Carrie Cardinal from Realtyone Real Estate Services Inc. and Ryan Mollberg with M Realty, both of whom are Saskatchewan-based mortgage brokers and REALTORS®. 

Types of mortgage lenders and how a broker can help

…

438 Views, 1 Comments

Read Full Post

Canadians might see much higher borrowing rates in the not-so-distant future. Scotiabank chief economist Jean-François Perrault has forecast up to 8 rate hikes within 2 years. He sees elevated inflation backing the Bank of Canada (BoC) into a corner on the issue. Inflation appears to be a lot less transitory than thought. If that’s the case, the central bank will be forced to move, and address the highest inflation rate in decades.

Canadian Interest Rates Forecast To Rise 200 Basis Points

The bank’s economists are calling a very sharp climb for Canadian interest rates. They have forecast an increase of 100 basis points (bps) in the second half of 2022. It would be followed by another increase of 100 bps in 2023. An overnight rate of 2.25% would…

540 Views, 1 Comments

Read Full Post

Photo: James Bombales

The rate of growth for housing prices across the country has notably dropped compared to the earlier, more hectic market months of 2021.

In a recent monthly housing market update report, senior RBC economist Robert Hogue noted that the housing market has “calmed down considerably this summer,” which is taking the pressure off of Canadian housing prices.

Although home prices are still on the rise, the pace of appreciation is less than what it was prior to the summer. For the past three months, the average rate of increase was 0.8 per cent month-to-month, a noticeable difference from the first quarter of 2021 when the average rate was 2.6 percent monthly. The rate of price appreciation during the last three months is…

371 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Popular outrage at the soaring price of Canadian housing has a fix that almost no one is talking about — certainly not those aspiring to be Canada's prime minister.

While they have not framed it specifically as a method of curbing Canada's property sector, central bankers are the exception to that rule. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem insists he is preparing to push a lever expected to have a real effect on the escalating price of houses: hiking interest rates.

People with a stake in Canada's diverse housing sector, including homeowners, investors and those aspiring to buy, will be paying close attention to Wednesday's latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

They will also be watching Canada's inflation numbers coming…

280 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post