November 24th Mortgage Industry Update
November 24th, 2020 Mortgage Industry Update
The Bank of Canada announced on October 28th that its overnight lending rate will remain at 0.25%. The prime rate remains 2.45%. The Bank of Canada suggests that they will more than likely keep rates at this “effective lower bound” until 2023, as they observe the full effects of the pandemic.
Additionally this week:
– CIBC report: Canadian consumers and businesses are sitting on an unprecedented $170 billion in excess cash as of Q3. CIBC said it suspects that cash is largely in the hands of higher-income Canadians, who are saving money that would otherwise be spent on services like dining out.
– Canadian Bankers Association: More than half of borrowers have already resumed their regular payment schedules after entering deferral agreements with their lenders earlier this year. But approximately 297,000 mortgages remained in some state of deferral as of September 30.
– CREA: Ontario’s average home price set a record in October, reaching $742,101 – up 17.2% year-over-year, while also setting a record for the fourth straight month in a row. More comprehensive year-to-date average price was $697,916, rising 15.3% from the first 10 months of 2019.
– CMHC: Annual pace of housing starts increased 3% in October compared with September. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 214,875 units last month compared with 208,715 in September. Annual rate of urban starts rose 3.5% in October to 202,584 units.
– CREA: Home sales in October dropped for the first time since April by 0.7% from September. However up 32.1% from 2019. Benchmark prices up 1% to $607,250, bringing the gain since April to 7%. Up 15.2% from 2019. New listings climbed 2.9%.
– PwC real estate research director Andy Warren: 83% of Canadian respondents to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate report think 2021 will be a good to excellent year, compared to 55% in the United States.
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.
