August 1st, 2023 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on July 12th that its overnight lending rate will increase to 5.00%. The Canadian economy has been stronger than originally expected, with more momentum in demand. CPI inflation is forecast to hover around 3% for the next year before gradually declining to 2% in the middle of 2025. The prime rate increases to 7.20%.
Additionally this week:
– Zoocasa: Time it takes for residential property in Ontario to get sold is now roughly twice as fast as it was 6 months ago. In January, shortest time homes were on market was 25 days in Waterloo. Now homes were being sold the quickest in Ajax and London, with 11 days on market.
– Statistics Canada: Household credit market debt as a proportion of disposable income spiked from 181.7% in Q4 2022 to 184.5% in Q1 2023. Households borrowed $16.5 B in Q1, with mortgage debt accounting for $11.2 B. Household debt service ratio also went up from 14.4% to 14.9%.
– BILD: June new home sales in GTA totalled 2,526, up 32% from 2022 but 30% below 10 yr avg. Condos accounted for 1,957, up 11% from 2022 and down 21% from 10 yr avg. Single-family homes up 256% with 569 sales last month. This, however, was still down 49% from the 10 yr avg.
– A new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is forecasting an economic rebound in the third quarter, along with a continued easing in inflation. “There is no recession in sight for the short term”.
– Sotheby’s International Realty Canada: Overall, the GTA — which includes Durham, Halton, Peel, York, and Toronto — saw residential sales over $10M decline 56% on an annual basis in the first half of the year, while sales over $4M contracted 35% and sales over $1M fell 29%.
– Statistics Canada: Inflation rate has fallen back to the country’s target range for the first time in more than two years. Tumbled to 2.8 per cent in June. But Canadians continue to pay substantially higher prices for groceries, as prices rose 9.1% year-over-year.
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.
