Bank of Canada bumps up interest rate.
The Bank of Canada increased the interest rate by 25 basis points to 1% today. They felt that the economy is still growing, though slowly, and that financial conditions remain "exceptionally stimulative". Here in the BC economy we see the same thing. Our economy is growing, job losses are less, and unemployment is decreasing. The real estate market has been slow during the summer months, which is not abnormal for us. Some people have equated the slow down to the inception of the HST, new mortgage rules and warm summer months. Most of us feel that the fall market will bounce back to business as usual. To be honest I would have rather seen the Bank of Canada wait a little longer on raising the interest rate but I guess they want to show the rest of the world Canada's economy is strong. After all Canada made headlines being the first country of the G7 to raise interest rates post-recession and maybe they want to continue banging the same drum...Canada is a financially strong country.
Kyle Hislop
RE/MAX