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The Bank of Canada announced on March 6th that its overnight lending rate will remain at 5.00%. Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate at 5.00%! The Canadian economy looks to be operating in modest excess supply. The Bank continues to expect inflation to remain close to 3% during the first half of this year before gradually easing. The prime rate remains at 7.20%.

Additionally this week:

– Equifax Canada: Ontario mortgage delinquency rate was up 135.2 per cent annually. Nationally the rate rose 52.3 per cent in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, while delinquency rates for non-mortgage debts that are more than 90 days overdue rose by 28.9 per cent.

– Forecasts from the big six banks expect anywhere from 100 to 150 basis points worth of rate cuts by the end of the year, which would bring the overnight rate to somewhere between 3.50% and 4.00%.

– TRREB: GTA sales up 17.9% annually in February to 5,607. Average selling price up 1.1% to $1.11 million, and up a similar amount from January. New listings were up 33.5% from last year to 11,396. Sales led by 24.8% yearly gain for townhouses, detached homes up by 21%.

– RBC annual Fraud Prevention Month Poll: 75% of respondents were more concerned about fraud compared to how they were before. 88% also believed that AI use in scam attempts will increase over the next year while 89% said that it will make people even more vulnerable to fraud.

– Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate at 5.00%! Economy looks to be operating in modest excess supply. The Bank continues to expect inflation to remain close to 3% during the first half of this year before gradually easing. The prime rate remains at 7.20%.

– The federal government has discontinued the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive, a much-criticized program aimed at improving housing affordability for new buyers that saw muted uptake in major markets.

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.