The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national home sales hit another all-time high in January 2021. Canadian home sales increased 2.0% month-on-month (m-o-m) building on December’s 7.0% gain. On a year-over-year (y-o-y) basis, existing home sales surged 35.2%. As the chart below shows, January activity blew out all previous records for the month. The seasonally adjusted activity was running at an annualized pace of 736,452 units in January,

This Wednesday, the Bank of Canada will release its interest rate announcement and the October Monetary Policy Report. Most people expect the overnight rate to remain at 0.25%, where it has been since the pandemic hit. A few have suggested that the Bank could take a page from Australia and reduce overnight rates by 15 basis points. I don’t think so. Canada’s economy is not as similar to Australia’s as you might think. Yes, both countries speak mostly English, are commodity ex

By Alisa Aragon While COVID-19 has had a huge impact on the Canadian economy in the first half of this year, after businesses started reopening, the housing market began picking up. Many home buyers resumed their home searches, and homeowners looking at upsizing to a larger home started listing their homes for sale. With interest rates at historical lows, this is a good time for buyers to get into the market. The Bank of Canada reviews its benchmark rate about eight times a y

Today’s release of August housing data by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed a blockbuster August with both sales and new listings hitting their highest levels in 40 years of data–exceeding the record July activity levels. This continues the rebound in housing that began four months ago. National home sales rose a further 6.2% on a month-over-month (m-o-m) basis in August, raising them to another new all-time monthly record (see chart below). Unlike the previ