December 12th Mortgage Industry Update
December 12th, 2017 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on December 6th that it’s overnight lending rate will remain at 1.00%. The prime rate remains the same. It is common prediction for rates to rise another 2 times by the end of 2018. Most fixed rates have now stabilized in the 3%+ range.
Additionally this week:
– Mortgage Professionals Canada report: 69% of Canadians surveyed would classify mortgages as “good debt.” Another 71% considered real estate to be a good long term investment. Ottawa’s new mortgage rules that come into effect January 2018 will shut out 40,000 to 50,000 Canadians from the housing market altogether.
– Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1 per cent. No change in prime rate, thus variable rates remain the same!
– TREB: There were 7,374 property sales across the GTA in November, marking an uptick from the 7,118 transactions registered in October. The average selling price across was $761,757 in November, compared with $780,104 in October. Benchmark home price index fell for the sixth consecutive month, down another 0.4% from October. The index has fallen 8.8% since May.
– Federal Court of Appeal has upheld last year’s Commission Tribunal: Realtors in Toronto will be allowed greater use of data from TREB: including displaying historical listings and sales prices on virtual office websites.
– “The dream of home ownership may be fading for some,” Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporations president Evan Siddall said, as quoted by Bloomberg. “Housing affordability has become a serious problem in our major cities.”
– CREA: Extending the Home Buyers’ Plan to allow for “intergenerational RRSP loans” would ease the financial burden that many young Canadians face when trying to purchase a home for the first time.
Stay tuned for the next update!
For any questions and concerns please do not hesitate to call Harpreet Singh The Mortgage King at (416) 795-1919.
