May 14th, 2024 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on April 10th that its overnight lending rate will remain at 5.00%. The Bank expects CPI inflation to be close to 3% during the first half of this year, move below 2½% in the second half, and reach the 2% inflation target in 2025. The prime rate remains at 7.20%.
Additionally this week:
– Avison Young: Downtown Toronto’s office market continues to struggle with rising vacancies. Reached 14.3% this quarter; 280-basis-point yearly increase. Availability rate also increased to 19.1% in Q1. Amount of office space available for sublease declined by 311,000 square feet.
– CMHC annual report: It delivered total of 494,319 new, repaired or assisted housing units in 2023. That exceeded the agency’s overall target of 350,000 units for the year. Also facilitated 153,708 affordable housing units – outpacing 120,000 goal set under the NHS.
– TRREB: New listings in April were up 47% annually. 7,114 homes were sold, which was down by 5%, although they edged up slightly from March. Average selling price increased 0.3% to $1.15 million, and on a month over month basis it increased by 1.5% compared to March.
– Equifax: Average mortgage payment recorded hit $1,685 per month in Q4 2023. Marked 27.7% increase since early 2020. Benchmark price of typical Canadian home climbed by 28.5% – a slightly faster growth rate. Toronto saw average mortgage payments grow 8.3% faster than home prices.
– Urbanation report revealed that 11,595 units in 29 Toronto projects have been delayed since mid-2022 due to market conditions. The situation has worsened, with developers launching only four new projects in the first quarter of 2024—an unprecedented slowdown.
– Statistics Canada: National GDP ticked upwards in February, rising by 0.2% compared with the same time last year thanks in large part to continued growth in services-producing industries. 12 of 20 sectors witnessed growth during the month.
– BMO survey: The majority of Canadians aspiring to buy a home say they will push their plans to next year or later to wait for interest rates to drop. 72% of respondents hoping to buy a home will wait until borrowing costs fall — an increase of 4% compared with last 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.
