We continue to see a rise in activity from last month, but significantly slower than February's growth, however prices have
stabilized.
Both the number of listings and the number of sales rose in April, the interesting statistic is that prices have held steady.
The changes to the mortgage rules and interest rates may have had impact, although the cost (price) of a home has not
changed the overall cost of purchasing a home has risen due to the increase in interest rates over the last months as well
as the new mortgage qualification rules.
In the mortgage rate table below we can see that the 5 year discounted rate has risen almost 0.61% since April 5. The
factor countering the interest rate increase and playing a part in keeping the market active is the expectation that the
Bank of Canada will increase rates as early as June. During the central banks policy meeting in the middle of April, they
did not continue to offer a guarantee of holding the line on rates to July, as they had previously done. When the rates do
rise, lenders will, more than likely, follow suit raising their rates again, adding to the two increases we have already had
this year.
So what does this all mean to the market? I tend to agree with the Realtors Association, the cost of purchasing a home
will continue to rise as our economy recovers faster, relative to the U.S. The price of a home may not rise that much
however the cost of borrowing will. To add to this there is also the feeling that the mortgage rules maybe tightened further.