The Mortgage Professionals - Jeff Dillon & Mitch Thibodeau, Lic. #10280

The Bank of Canada cut the key interest rate by another .25% today, the 3rd cut since June.

While this does not have a direct impact on fixed mortgage rates, we have seen fixed rates trickling down over the past couple months and expect this trend to continue.

It's great to see some more "normal" rates again!

With the anticipation of another potential Bank of Canada rate drop in September, we are now seeing fixed rates continue their descent. Fixed rates are now in the mid to high 4's which is great improvement from one year ago when rates were hovering around 6%. If you have been thinking about getting back into the housing market, this fall may be the time to do so.

The Bank of Canada decreased its overnight rate by another .25% today. This is the second decrease since early June. The move was widely expected by economists as inflation continues to cool and the Canadian economy shows signs of weakness.

Variable rate mortgage holders should expect to see a rate drop of .25% and, in most cases, their payment will drop accordingly.

Fixed rates do not move hand in hand with the Bank of Canada rate so there have been no changes yet, but we did see a small decrease (.10%) after the last announcement in June. We'll wait to see if there are any changes over the coming days. For the most part, 5 year fixed rates are hovering around 5% or below.

Kingston real estate stats for the month of June:

Average Price: $644,766 (up 0.1% from last June)

New Listings: 655 (up 9.5% from last June)

Sales: 354 (up 25.5% from last June)

Active Residential Listings: 1176 (up 44.6% from last June)

Source: KAREA

The Bank of Canada has finally reduced their overnight rate today by .25%. This is the first decrease in over 4 years.

Variable rate mortgage holders will see a .25% decrease in their rate as a result of this change; however, the change to the overnight rate does not have a direct impact on fixed rates.

We do hope to see fixed rates continue to trickle downwards this year but there is no immediate impact as a result of today's announcement.

The Bank of Canada met today and held its key interest rate at 5%, where it has been since July. They stated that it is still too soon to cut rates due to "underlying inflationary pressures".

Many economists expect we may see the first rate cut in June/July of this year.

With that said, it is important to note that fixed rates have decreased roughly 1% since the fall. In some cases, rates are below 5% so it appears we are trending in the right direction.

The Bank of Canada left the overnight rate unchanged again today. It has not increased the rate since July 2023.

While they still haven't ruled out future rate increases, it is not expected. The consensus from most experts is that they will begin to decrease the overnight rate at some point later this year.

The central bank's interest rate influences the cost of debt for Canadians taking out variable-rate loans and mortgages, and can also affect the interest rates on some savings accounts.

After a couple years of rising rates, we are optimistic about rates in 2024. While the media will remain quiet until the Bank of Canada decreases rates, we have already seen fixed rates decrease by .50 - 1.0% in the past couple months.

If you have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for rates to come down, this may be the year to make a move!

Some November 2023 housing statistics courtesy of KAREA (Kingston and Area Real Estate Association):

Homes sold: 163 (down 3% from Nov. 2022)

Homes sold year-to-date: 2361 (down 17% from same period in 2022)

Benchmark price for single family home: $554,400 (down 2.7% from Nov. 2022)

Year-to-date average price for Jan. - Nov: $612,316 (down 7.1% from first 11 months of 2022)

New listings in Nov: 398 (15% increase from Nov. 2022)

The BoC held the overnight rate at 5% today so there are no changes to report. They still left the door open for future rate hikes but they are content for the time being with inflation slowly approaching the 2% target.

Bank of Canada holds its key interest rate at 5 per cent, as Canadian economy continues to slow The Bank of Canada held its overnight rate at 5 per cent on Wednesday, as Canada's economy continues to slow and indications that supply and demand are now approaching balance.

We can all agree that having your mortgage come up for renewal right now is not ideal. Rates are the highest that we have seen in a long time.

With that said, I feel like some people may be getting taken advantage of because many banks/lenders are offering renewal rates that are higher than market rates. The institutions know that everyone is aware that rates are "high" so they offer a rate that is too high, hoping that clients will just sign without researching other options.

We have moved many clients away from their existing institutions lately in order to find them better rates on their maturity date. Your rate is going to be high regardless, but let's at least find you the "lowest high" rate possible!

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Ugh! Another rate increase....The Bank of Canada increased the overnight rate by another .25% today bringing the rate to 5.0%, its highest level since April 2001.

This will have a direct impact on all variable/adjustable rate mortgage holders.

Please reach out if you have any questions.

Bank of Canada raises policy rate 25 basis points, continues quantitative tightening The Bank of Canada today increased its target for the overnight rate to 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5¼% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.

After two meetings with no increases, we were optimistic and hopeful that the rate hikes were complete. Unfortunately, with the economy running hotter than the Bank of Canada would like, the Bank announced another .25% increase to its benchmark rate today.

This will have a direct impact on variable rate mortgage holders but does not impact fixed rate mortgages. If you have questions about your personal situation, please feel to get in touch.

Bank of Canada raises policy rate 25 basis points, continues quantitative tightening The Bank of Canada today increased its target for the overnight rate to 4¾%, with the Bank Rate at 5% and the deposit rate at 4¾%.

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🏌️⛳It's time to spoil DAD 😁! Simply tag your Dad in the comments for a chance to win the ultimate DAD package. Golf & Beer! 🍻

Enter to win a round of golf🏌️‍♂️ for "4" with carts from our good friends at Rivendell Golf Club along with a 24 pack featuring our favourites from a few local breweries. 🍺 MacKinnon Brothers Brewing Company Spearhead Brewing Company Daft Brewing

Contest closes Wednesday, June 14th. Winner will be announced on June 15th.

*golf package must be used this season*

Here are some Kingston Real Estate stats for the month of March, courtesy of KAREA.

Homes sold: 266 (down 21% from March 2022 and well below historical averages)

Average price of homes sold: $592,739 (down 18.7% from March 2022)

Average price of homes sold (year-to-date): $597,719 (down 15.8% from the same time period last year)

New listings: 483 (down 1.8% from March 2022 and the lowest number of listings added in March in over 15 years)

Active listings: 638 (up 132.8% from March 2022)

While sales were the highest since July 2022, they are still well below average. It's too early to see a trend but demand does appear to be increasing and inventory is growing.

https://karea.ca/statistics-2/

The City of Kingston Home Ownership Program is back for 2023. This program is designed to help low to moderate income families achieve home ownership by providing down payment assistance.

Down payment assistance is equal to 10% of the purchase price up to a maximum of $44,000 (max purchase price $440,000). If you have a combined pre-tax income of $94,000, you can apply to this program.

Applications are due by March 31st.

Home Ownership - City of Kingston The Home Ownership Program (HOP) assists low-to-moderate income households to buy affordable homes by providing down payment assistance in the form of a forgivable loan.

For the first time in 12 months, the Bank of Canada announced today that they will not increase the overnight rate. This is welcome news after 8 consecutive increases.

They remain prepared to increase rates again later this year in order to meet their inflation goal of 2%, but hopefully interest rates are at or near their peak.

Bank of Canada maintains policy rate, continues quantitative tightening The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 4½%, with the Bank Rate at 4¾% and the deposit rate at 4½%. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.

⬇️Were you this couple in 2022?⬇️

If so, you are eligible to claim the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit when filing your 2022 tax return. This can create a tax credit of up to $1500!

Please reach out if you would like more details on how to claim the credit.

With the Bank of Canada indicating that they will likely put a pause on rate increases, we are expecting the real estate market to pick up again this spring.

If you are considering a purchase, now would be a good time to lock in a rate for the spring. We can hold a rate until mid June if you book today.

The Bank of Canada increased their benchmark rate another .25% today bringing the rate to 4.50%. The move was widely expected after January data, specifically with respect to inflation and employment, was stronger than expected. Inflation did come down to 6.3% this month but this is still well above the target level of 2%.

On a positive note, the Bank did state that it expects to hold the policy rate at the current level while it assesses the impact of the recent rate increases...so hopefully we are done with rate increases for a while but we certainly won't guarantee it!

Today's increase will have a direct impact on variable rate mortgage holders but will not impact fixed rates.

Bank of Canada makes first rate hike of 2023 The Bank also gave a significant update on its plans for future rate announcements

Thank you to everyone that took part in our annual colouring contest. Merry Christmas!

The Bank of Canada has announced that the overnight rate will increase by another .50%. This is the seventh increase of the year and brings the total of all increases to 4.0%. The prime rate for most banks will now increase to 6.45%. All variable/adjustable rate mortgages will increase accordingly.

Fixed rate mortgages/payments are not impacted by this announcement.

Bank of Canada increases policy interest rate by 50 basis points, continues quantitative tightening The Bank of Canada today increased its target for the overnight rate to 4¼%, with the Bank Rate at 4½% and the deposit rate at 4¼%.

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Here is an interesting graphic that was provided by one of our lender partners, RMG. While it pertains specifically to the Ottawa market, it also applies here in Kingston since our markets have performed similarly in the past couple years.

The graphic compares the difference in house prices and interest rates from March 2022 to today. You can see that the resulting mortgage payment from 8 months ago is similar to today's payment. Interest rates are much higher today but the lower house prices offset the higher rates resulting in a similar mortgage payment.

The point is to not let the negative media on interest rates scare you. Buying today is not much different than buying 8 months ago when demand was through the roof.