
US 30-Year Mortgage Rate Falls to a Five-Week Low of 6.48%
US mortgage rates fell to a five-week low of 6.48%, helping drive a third-straight advance in applications to buy a home.
Latest Videos
The information you requested is not available at this time, please check back again soon.
US mortgage rates fell to a five-week low of 6.48%, helping drive a third-straight advance in applications to buy a home.
UK house prices fell at the fastest pace in 12 years in January, barring the pandemic, as higher mortgage costs piled further pressure on the housing market, official figures showed.
(Bloomberg) -- Iceland’s central bank extended western Europe’s longest monetary-tightening campaign with an acceleration in hiking, braving global banking turmoil to intensify its fight against inflation.
Champagne exports to Gulf countries from France jumped in 2022 as Russian tourists flocked to the region after the war in Ukraine curbed their access to Western nations.
China’s securities regulator is scrutinizing a unit of conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Co. about $4.4 billion in payments it might have to make if a mainland mall business doesn’t go public in Hong Kong this year.
Mar 3, 2022
BNN Bloomberg
,New data showed sales activity in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) housing market fell from record levels in February, but that wasn’t enough to keep home prices from hitting a new all-time high.
Toronto-area home sales dropped 16.8 per cent in the month compared to last year, with declines across all types of properties tracked, according to the latest data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB).
There were 9,097 transactions reported in the month, TRREB said.
The number of new listings also fell in February, but to a lesser extent than sales.
New listings were down 6.6 per cent from the same time last year, driven by the detached property market. TRREB said the City of Toronto condo market saw a rise in new listings in February.
Despite the pullback in demand, market conditions remained extremely tight and the housing affordability crisis worsened.
“Demand for ownership housing remains strong throughout the GTA, and while we are marginally off the record pace seen last year, any buyer looking in this market is not likely to feel it with competition remaining the norm,” said Kevin Crigger, president of TRREB, in a news release issued on Thursday.
The average selling price of a home jumped 27.7 per cent to $1,334,544 in February year-over-year – marking another all-time high, the data showed. Average selling prices have posted new records in five of the past six months.
The data comes on the heels of the Bank of Canada raising its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.50 per cent – the first hike since 2018. Market data from Bloomberg indicates the central bank is expected to hike its key lending rate five more times this year.
But until borrowing rates rise further, most economists don’t foresee there being a meaningful impact on the housing market.
“Many households sped up their home purchase and entered into a transaction in 2021, which is one reason the number of sales were forecasted to be lower this year, and a trending towards higher borrowing cost will have a moderating effect on home sales. Substantial immigration levels and a continued lack of supply, however, will have a countering effect to increasing mortgage costs,” Crigger said.