August 16th, 2022 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on July 13th that its overnight lending rate will increase to 2.50% from 1.50%. The prime rate has increased to 4.70% from 3.70%. Inflation in Canada is higher and more persistent than the Bank originally expected and will likely remain around 8% in the next few months. The Bank of Canada suggests that they will more than likely continue to raise interest rates over this year to tackle higher than anticipated inflation rates.
Additionally this week:
– Bank of Canada: Fixed-rate mortgages accounted for 49% of all home loans in May, up from the 43% share in March. Mortgages with terms shorter than five years accounted for 53% of fixed-rate home loans in May, up from 51% in January.
– Bullpen Research and Consulting: Average monthly rents in GTA increased 19% yearly in June; rising to $2,403 from $2,018 in June 2021. Following May’s 5.7% monthly increase, average rents jumped another 3.1% in June; second highest monthly increase in more than three years.
– TRREB: July had just 406 sales for Brampton. This represented the lowest July sales total since 2000 when TRREB recorded 335 sales. Down 58% yearly compared to 958 in 2021. Average price was $1,027,535,up slightly compared to July 2021’s average selling price of $1,006,049.
– Statistics Canada: Economy lost 30,600 jobs in July. Marks 2nd consecutive month of employment losses. Median estimate among economists tracked by Bloomberg was for a gain of 15,000 jobs and an unemployment rate of 5.0%. Unemployment rate remained steady at a historic low of 4.9%.
– Statistics Canada: The value of outstanding mortgages spiked from nearly $338.88 billion in Q1 2021 to approximately $356.17 billion in Q1 of this year. The total number of outstanding residential mortgages during the same period ticked down from 1,717,693 to 1,711,923.
– TRREB: Home sales (4,912) sank 47.4% year-over-year in July. Sales activity was down 24.1% on a monthly basis. New listings fell 4.1% in July 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.