The year started with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions introducing a new mortgage stress test. The new qualification rate for uninsured mortgages is based on the greater of the Bank of Canada’s 5 year Qualifying Rate (currently 5.34%) or 2% higher than the mortgage rate you were able to secure from the lender.
The economy was deemed relatively strong and the Bank of Canada announced three interest rate hikes in 2018. It is now the highest it’s been in a decade.
Forecast for 2019
Trying to predict how the Canadian real estate market will play out in 2019 is impossible. However, if interest rates continue to rise or there’s a slowdown in the Canadian economy, the real estate market could continue to cool. On the other hand, The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) sees home sales rebounding a little (2.1 per cent) next year, with home prices roughly keeping up with inflation (2.7 per cent).
In the end, housing is still a necessity and it usually makes more sense to purchase a home and start building equity than to rent. I am here to help simplify the mortgage process and help you into a mortgage built for you!
