– 25 basis points more than the consensus estimate of .75 percentage points – pushing the benchmark interest rate to 2.5 per cent from 1.5 per cent. It is the fourth consecutive interest rate increase since March and the first time the bank has raised its rate by a full point since 1998.
“This move will cast an even deeper chill on the market through the fall, and reinforce the change in market psychology,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist with Bank of Montreal. “Expectations of price declines are on the rise. This week’s rate hike will reinforce that shift,” he said. Nevertheless, the supersized interest-rate increase caught the real-estate industry off guard. “This was a total shock and completely unexpected,” said Samantha Brookes, the chief executive of brokerage firm Mortgages of Canada. “It’s going to have a huge effect on people,” she said. Variable-rate mortgage holders will see more of their monthly payment go toward interest and less toward the principal.
The only one's surprised are the liberalndp who thought printing & spending imaginary money had no consequences. 🙄
WendyGauvin5
'There are more than a million empty homes in Canada and on any given night at least 35,000 Canadians are homeless.'