January 29th Mortgage Industry Update
January 29th, 2019 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on January 9th that it’s overnight lending rate will remain at 1.75%. The prime rate remains 3.95%. The common prediction currently stands at the Bank of Canada will very gradually increase rates in 2019.
Additionally this week:
– National Bank: Although Canadian insolvencies increased 5.2% in November compared to 2017, actual bankruptcies remained around record lows. Insolvency data lumps proposals in with bankruptcies. Proposals are plans to restructure debt, which is not an entirely bad thing.
– January 2019 rent report from rentals.ca: Landlords across Canada asking an average of $1,776/month in rent, up 1.3% from December 2018. Toronto remained most expensive market, though rents didn’t move from previous month. 1 bed avg was $2,135, while 2 bed was $2,577.
– Mortgage Professionals Canada: Rate hikes, foreign homebuyers taxes, stress tests, have contributed to slowdown in housing markets in Canada. Suggests tweaking stress test since rates have increased as predicted and now pose serious risk to the housing market and overall economy.
– Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau says the government is looking at ways to make home-buying more affordable for millennials. Says the challenge of helping millennials enter the housing market is now the priority and that there’s multiple things the government is examining.
– Demographia: Hong Kong ranked world’s least-affordable housing market for 9th straight year. Median property price climbed to 20.9 times median household income in 2018, up from 19.4 times in 2017. Vancouver was ranked the second-most unaffordable market. Toronto ranked 10th.
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.
