July 2nd, 2024 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on June 5th that its overnight lending rate will be cut to 4.75% from 5.00%! Officially the first rate cut in over 4 years! Recent data has increased confidence that inflation will continue to move towards the 2% target. The prime rate decreases to 6.95% across lenders.
Additionally this week:
– Statistics Canada: Consumer price index (inflation) increased by 2.9% last month compared with the same time in 2023, above a median estimate of 2.6% indicated in a Bloomberg survey of economists and higher than April’s reading of 2.7%.
– Statistics Canada: Country’s population expected to increase 57% to 62.8 million by 2073, up from 40.1 million last year. Translates to average annual growth rate of 0.9%. Also included low and high growth projections, with estimates ranging from 47.1 million to 87.2 million.
– Wahi’s 2024 Homebuyer Intentions survey found that two of the top reasons Canadians sell their homes are about size. The biggest reason to sell was downsizing (37%). Chosen by 25% of respondents, upsizing was tied with relocation as the second-most popular reason for selling.
– Borrowell has launched a new program that allows renters struggling to build credit history to use their on-time rent payments to improve their credit scores. The new program is the first in Canada that lets renters report up to 24 months of past rent payments to Equifax.
– Statistics Canada: Number of people who hold only study permits dropped by 24,594 in Q1 compared with a decline of 16,003 during last year. Country added 131,810 non-permanent residents in the first quarter, one of the lowest quarterly net increases since early 2022.
– Royal LePage survey: Nearly third of Canadians now live in rental accommodations, with trend increasing. 27% of current renters plan to purchase a property within the next two years, a figure that rises to 40% among those aged 18-34. 69% of renters have no immediate plans to buy.
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.
