December 5th, 2023 Mortgage Industry Update
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:
– Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem has said interest rates may be high enough to continue taming inflation in remarks that suggest the central bank could be at the end of its rate-hiking path.
– Statistics Canada: National inflation rate fell to 3.1% in October, still above the Bank of Canada’s target rate but down notably from its September reading of 3.8%. Caused mainly by plummeting gas prices, with the cost of fuel at the pump falling by 7.8% annually.
– Statistics Canada: Residential mortgage credit rose just 3.2% from a year earlier, reaching $2.14T in September, the weakest annual rate of growth since 2001. Was down from as high as 10.9% at beginning of 2022. Balances of HELOCs fell to $165.8B, down 3.4% from a year earlier.
– Zoocasa: People between ages of 25-29 saw their rate of homeownership drop to 36.5% in 2021 from 44.1% in 2011. People aged 30-34 saw their homeownership rate drop 11.7% over same period. Millennials experienced the largest decrease in homeownership rates during the mid-2000s.
– According to a HelloSafe survey earlier this year, the average home insurance premium in Ontario is up 88% since 2015, when premiums averaged $791. The most notable jump in rates in Ontario occurred between 2021 and 2022, which saw a 16% surge from $1,282 to $1,467.
– CMHC: Only 21.5% of Canadian homeowners aged 75 to 79 sold their properties between 2016 and 2021. Sell rate for households aged 75 and over has been trending downward since the early 1990s, falling by approximately 6%s over the last 30 years (from 41.6% to 36%).
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.
