February 20th Mortgage Industry Update
February 20th, 2018 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on January 17th that it’s overnight lending rate will increase to 1.25% from 1.00%. The prime rate has thus increased to 3.45% with most lenders. The 5 year posted rate has also changed to 5.14% with most lenders.
Additionally this week:
– Teranet-National Bank composite house price index rose 0.3% last month from December and gained 8.7% in January from a year ago, the smallest 12-month rise since May 2016. Toronto rising 0.2% from December — marking its first gain in six months.
– “The fear heading into January was that the housing market would slow sharply with the introduction of stricter mortgage rules,” writes BMO economist Benjamin Reitzes. “While activity did indeed slow, the market didn’t appear to be too badly hit.”
– Morguard Report: The Canadian commercial property segment came into the new year flush with the record-high successes of 2017. The leading markets of Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, and Calgary are expected to continue posting good performance.
– Sales of investment properties in Toronto surged 38% to $23.5 billion in 2017, according to a report from Altus. A booming tech and financial sector helped send unemployment in the city to 4.3% in December from 5.5% a year ago even as it remained a magnet for immigrants. The GTA was the hottest condo market with 36,429 unit sales in the year, setting a new record. There was a 25% increase in unit sales compared to the previous year, an extra 7,297 units.
– CMHC: Pace of housing starts in January held steady compared with December. Seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts came in at 216,210 units in January. That compared with a rate of 216,275 units in December.
– Residential mortgage insurer Genworth MI Canada saw its net income reach $528m for the whole of 2017, marking a 27% rise from the year before.
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.