20 February 2019

“We expect further modest housing gains in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, flat or lower results in most of British Columbia and more weakening in the Prairies, Alberta, and Newfoundland & Labrador.”

According to Cooper, the main trend of 2019 could be lower sales and slow prices growth.

“There will be certain regional differences, of course, but there are no reasons for more measures aimed at reducing the market demand. More and more people call for cutting the mortgage qualification rate from the posted five-year fixed rate (today it’s 5.34%) to the actual conventional rate, which is almost 2% lower”.

Last month, money manager BlackRock Inc. said that the central bank will probably keep its key lending rate unchanged until at least 2020 amid growing market volatility and stricter financial conditions.

Weaker pressure from inflation, caused by lower oil prices, will also have a strong impact.

“Given the volatility in the financial markets and the influence of lower oil prices on economic activity in Western Canada, the BoC has time to be cautious and wait for the right moment to start raising rates again”, – TD Bank senior economist James Marple said in December.