Today the Bank of Canada raised it’s key interest rate from 1.25% to 1.5%. In response, all 6 of Canada’s big banks have announced they will raise their prime lending rate to 3.7%.

Prime Lending Rate Trend


source: tradingeconomics.com

Market Stats for June 2018 are out. The average price for a detached home in Toronto is $1,354,429 and for semi’s it is $999, 754. Curious to know how much your house is worth? Get in touch to discuss.

The Toronto Real Estate Board has reported a 22-per-cent drop in the number of homes sold in GTA in May 2018 compared to May 2017 and a 26-per-cent decline in new listings of homes for sale, both statistic suggestive that consumers are still on the sidelines waiting for evidence of recovery in the GTA market. The decline in listings is helping keep prices stable with the average selling price rising 1.1 per cent in May compared to April on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to May 2017, prices for homes of all types were down 6.6 per cent in May 2018.

“Market conditions are becoming tighter in the Greater Toronto Area and this will provide support for home prices as we move through the second half of 2018 and into 2019,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s director of market analysis. Mr. Mercer said there are emerging indications that there is increasing competition and bidding wars for available homes, which generally leads to stronger price growth.

Sales through the TREB MLS in April 2018 on a year-over-year basis were down by just over 32 per cent. Compared to April 2017, which had the highest average sale price on record for the Board, April 2018’s average selling price was down by 12.4 per cent. April’s average sales price was 0.2 per cent below the average sales price in March this year.

The month-to-month sales numbers suggest a leveling over the past two months from the drops seen in January and February of this year, and might further indicate that the impact of the tougher new mortgage qualification rules introduced January 1st may already be moderating.