Steven Greenidge

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/read-full-text-of-bank-of-canada-s-latest-interest-rate-decision-1.1929998

Bank of Canada Releases a new Rate Announcement.

The Bank of Canada defied expectations by restarting its interest-rate tightening campaign, saying the economy is running too hot.

Policymakers led by Governor Tiff Macklem raised the overnight lending rate to 4.75 per cent on Wednesday, the highest since 2001. The move was expected by only about one in five economists in a Bloomberg survey, and markets had put the odds at about a coin flip.

“Overall, excess demand in the economy looks to be more persistent than anticipated,” the bank said in its rate statement, which wasn’t accompanied by a new set of forecasts. Bonds plunged, sending the Canada two-year yield to 4.571 per cent at 10:23 a.m. — the highest since August 2007. The loonie jumped to $1.3347 per US dollar.

Since declaring a conditional pause in January, policymakers have warned that further rate increases may be necessary. And while some Canadians are feeling the pinch of steeper borrowing costs, the bank’s move from the sidelines suggests officials are worried that economic momentum won’t slow enough without another hike.

“Monetary policy was not sufficiently restrictive to bring supply and demand into balance and return inflation sustainably to the 2 per cent target,” the bank said, citing an “accumulation of evidence” that includes stronger-than-expected first quarter output growth, an uptick in inflation and a rebound in housing-market activity.

The move follows a surprise 25 basis-point boost Tuesday by the Reserve Bank of Australia. The Bank of Canada was the first and only Group of Seven central bank to pause its hiking cycle. Now it’s changed its mind, conceding that higher borrowing costs are still required to bring inflation to heel in an economy that’s proving more resilient than anticipated.

Macklem and his officials pointed to elevated three-month moving measures of underlying price pressures as a key reason for their move. “Concerns have increased that CPI inflation could get stuck materially above the 2 per cent target,” they said.

The statement was light on forward-looking commentary, suggesting policymakers aren’t yet sure whether the move will end up as a fine tuning or the start of another series of increases. Officials said they plan to examine how excess demand, inflation expectations, wage growth and corporate pricing behavior evolve.

Although specific guidance around being prepared to increase borrowing costs again wasn’t in the statement, it’s “possible that we could see a follow up hike if signs of economic slack opening up aren’t clear in forthcoming data,” Katherine Judge, an economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, said in a report to investors. 

During the U.S. regional bank crisis in March, it looked as though Macklem and his officials had hit pause at the right time — they had brought Canada’s economy to a terminal point without a hard landing scenario, and inflation was falling. 

The financial turmoil led many to expect that the Federal Reserve wouldn’t hike much further, reducing concerns about rate divergence and imported inflation, given the U.S. is by far the northern nation’s top trading partner.

Now the data suggest that pause was premature. Canada’s economy has proved to be surprisingly more immune to higher borrowing costs than most economists expected. Many saw massive debt loads and a bloated housing market as big reasons why Macklem could stop raising rates ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other peers.

The Bank of Canada flagged stronger-than-expected gross domestic product, including “broad-based” consumption gains even after accounting for record population growth. Policymakers also called Canada’s labour market “tight,” noting that while immigration and higher participation rates are expanding the supply of workers, new employees are being hired immediately, which reflects “continued strong demand for labour.”

On Thursday, Deputy Governor Paul Beaudry will provide a more thorough explanation of the bank’s decision in a speech in Victoria, followed by a news conference.

Opinion

How do interest rates affect home prices? 

There are many who answer the question "When is the best time to buy a home?" with "When you need a home". 

This is a completely valid answer. However, the larger question remains, "what drives housing prices and when should I buy?".  

"Supply and demand" is the general answer from the industry which is another completely valid and accurate response. We see below another aspect of what drives housing prices. During the past few years of artifically low interest rates we have seen an influx of investment money into real estate.  With poor returns on so called traditional investments many have turned to real estate to augment their portfolios resulting in an increase of "amateur landlords" or those who have used equity in thier principle residences to leverage and buy a second property to build future wealth. This has been a significant driver of pricing which has put stress on the industry. This increase of investment money has also resulted in an increase in rental costs and more recently, as interest rates climb, landlords struggle to keep their investments liquid.      

As seen below there is a correlation between low interst trends and housing prices. The question is," How will the return to normalized interest rates affect pricing and future rental and purchase costs to consumers?". Will the upward pressure of interest costs push leveraged home owners out of the market and open more oportunities for user purchasers? Time will tell.  

May Stats from TRREB

TRREB: STRENGTHENING DEMAND AND LACK OF HOUSING SUPPLY PUSHES UP PRICES IN THE GTA TORONTO,

ONTARIO, June 2, 2023 – The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) housing market continued to improve from a sales perspective in May 2023. Unfortunately, the supply of homes for sale did not keep up with the demand for ownership housing. Sales as a share of new listings were up dramatically compared to a year ago. This is a clear signal that competition between buyers increased substantially compared to last year, resulting in the average selling price reaching almost $1.2 million last month.

“Despite the fact that we have seen positive policy direction over the last couple of years, governments have been failing on the housing supply front for some time. Recent polling from Ipsos found that City of Toronto residents gave Council a failing grade on housing affordability and pointed to lack of supply as the major issue. This issue is not unique to Toronto. It persists throughout the Greater Golden Horseshoe. If we don't quickly see housing supply catch up to population growth, the economic development of our region will be hampered as people and businesses look elsewhere to live and invest,” said Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) President Paul Baron.

GTA REALTORS® reported 9,012 sales through TRREB’s MLS® System in May 2023 – a 24.7 per cent increase compared to May 2022. Conversely, new listings were down by 18.7 per cent over the same period. On a month-over-month seasonally adjusted basis, sales were up by 5.2 per cent compared to April 2023.

“The demand for ownership housing has picked up markedly in recent months. Many homebuyers have recalibrated their housing needs in the face of higher borrowing costs and are moving back into the market. In addition, strong rent growth and record population growth on the back of immigration has also supported increased home sales. The supply of listings hasn't kept up with sales, so we have seen upward pressure on selling prices during the spring,” said TRREB Chief Market Analyst Jason Mercer.

The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) composite benchmark was down by 6.9 per cent year-over-year in May 2023, but up by 3.2 per cent on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis compared to April 2023. The average selling price, at $1,196,101, represented a small 1.2 per cent decline relative to May 2022. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the average selling price was up by 3.5 per cent compared to April 2023.

“The high cost of housing, brought about by short supply and high borrowing costs, is part of the broader increases in the cost of living. Municipalities, including the City of Toronto, need to be mindful of this when considering their revenue generation options. TRREB believes households will have little patience for higher taxes, including unreasonable property tax hikes and increases to prohibitive upfront land transfer taxes,” said TRREB CEO John DiMichele.