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The Bank of Canada announced on October 25th that its overnight lending rate will remain at 5.00%. There is growing evidence that past interest rate increases are dampening economic activity and relieving price pressures. Supply and demand in the economy are now approaching balance. Prime remains at 7.20%.

Additionally this week:

– CREA: Home sales in October across Canada’s housing market fell by 5.6% over the previous month (however were up by 0.9% compared with October 2022) – but the national average home price is now 1.8% higher than the same time last year, at $656,625.

– Urbanation: New condo sales in GTA totalled 2,664 units in Q3, a near 20-year low. While up 41% from last year. Average condo prices launched for presale have fallen to $1,216 per square foot, an 18% decline compared to record-high of $1,485 per sq. ft. recorded a year earlier.

– Urbanation: Average monthly rent in Canada reached $2,178 last month, representing a 9.9% annual increase. Marked sixth consecutive month where asking rents reached new highs. On monthly basis, average rents went up by 1.4% in October, a slight retreat from the 1.5% in September.

– Avison Young: During the third quarter, the Toronto downtown area saw its office vacancy rate reach 12.5%, up from 2.1% in Q1 2020. Available sublet space went up by 22% annually, up to 8.7 million square feet.

– Statistics Canada: Top 1% taxpayers saw incomes spike by 9.4% to reach $579,100 in 2021, while those in the bottom half saw average incomes drop by $1,400 to $21,100. Top 1% saw average income rise by 12%, top 0.1% saw an increase of 24.6%, top 0.01% saw an increase of 34.5%.

– The Canadian cities that best align with Gen Z home buyers’ expectations tend to have populations below 300,000, according to a new study by Point2 Homes. The demographic is drawn to the appeal of smaller cities in general.

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.