Jobs, the Economy and Interest Rates There were 60,000 new jobs created in Canada in June. This is three times higher than was forecast!  Unemployment was also up slightly, to 5.4%, this month over last month.  This shows that there were more people searching for work.  Wage growth is up 4.2% year over year; however a month ago wage growth was up 5.1%.  On an adjusted basis it could be argue ...

Future interest Rate Hikes for the Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada, in an unexpected move, raised interest rates by 0.25% on June 7, 2023.  The prime rate now stands at 4.75%.  The Bank of Canada wants to see inflation at about 2% and the numbers were showing that this was not being achieved so the decision was made to raise the rate. There may be further interest rate hikes in the near f ...

Future Interest Rate Moves – June 1, 2023 Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is showing underlying strength. April saw growth in the GDP and there is modest growth expected for the second quarter in Canada. The strength of housing is surprising to many economists given the recent increase in interest rates. Based on all this the expectation is that the interest rate will not see a chang ...

CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) New housing starts fell in March by an annualized rate of 11%!  From 241,000 units last MCorporation)arch to 214,000 units this March.  Economists had expected construction of new housing units to fall by 1.2%.  They were out by a factor of 10! This will lead to strong upward pressure in the housing market as renters and buyers compete for incr ...

The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady at 4.5% today – April 12, 2023. The Bank of Canada anticipates that the inflation rate will fall to 3% by mid 2023.  However, the target is to have inflation at or below 2% by 2024… this may be more challenging, so the door remains open for future interest rate increases.  Stay tuned!

Housing Statistics March 2023 – Calgary In spite of the higher interest rates there is upward pressure on cost of housing.  This is due to historically low inventory.  Inventory levels have not been this low since 2006!  Month over month the Home Price Index has gone up by between 2.2 and 2.6%.  Year over year apartment condominiums have done the best with an annual increase of about 11%. W ...

Is Calgary the best place for a Rental income property in Canada? Using a very simplistic approach it can be shown that Calgary is the best place for an income property of Canada’s major cities.  Here is what I did: Take the average residential property price in the city and divide by the average monthly rental cost in that city.  This gives a ratio and the higher the ratio the more one has ...

Failure of Silicon Valley Bank As a result of the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank the bond markets are assuming that the central banking system (US) and including the Bank of Canada (BoC) will be reducing lending rates. April 12 is the BoC’s next rate setting meeting and there is a ¼% reduction expected by the bond markets and the possibility of another rate cut by this summer. I will k ...

Scenic Acres – a Fantastic Community in Calgary’s’ NW Scenic Acres is close to the LRT, major parks Crowfoot Shopping Area.  Sales have been strong lately with 1.8 months of inventory.  Of the eighteen properties active on the market nine are for the condominium project near the Bow River that is yet to break ground.  Prices in Scenic Acres range from $265,000 to $1,175,000.  This is an exci ...

Tips to sell your House – March 9 2023 The small things that you can do will pay dividends in speed of sale and sale price: Service the furnace; Clean and seal grout in bathrooms; Check all doors for squeaks and for proper fit; All light bulbs should be working and of the same style, if you are using LED’s they should all be 3000 degrees K; Taps and toilets should be in good working orde ...