Recent Bank of Canada interest rate cut has not sparked homebuyer demand: Report
When Denis Dignard recently put his home up for sale just outside of Ottawa, he was excited the Bank of Canada was dropping its key interest rate for the first time in over four years.
"There's a lot of homes on the market right now. There's a ton of homes, and there’s no action," said Dignard.
Despite the quarter-point cut, there has been no rush of buyers. Dignard notes "if you owe $1 million, they say, okay, we're going to take $25,000 off that million dollars, you still owed a pile of money. So, (the interest rate cut) really didn’t generate a lot of, activity. We were disappointed, that’s for sure."
After 30 showings and no offers on his home, Dignard and his partner decided to drop their asking price and added a few amenities to reel in potential buyers.
"We had to not only lower price, we had to add incentives to our home, like throwing in a Generac generator and other items with the home, like all the appliances, to really make it attractive," added Dignard.
Curtis Fillier, president of the Ottawa Real Estate Board says while there is still a housing demand in Ottawa, house prices have remained high.
"It comes down to just affordability," said Filler. "And housing affordability in the Ottawa area still remains a problem. House prices are not coming down. We’ve actually seen a half percent increase since this time last year."
According to the latest Royal LePage House Price Survey for the second quarter of this year, the average home price in Canada is $824,300. That’s up 1.9 per cent from the same time last year, and up 1.5 per cent from the first quarter of 2024.
In the Ottawa Housing Market Report for June 2024, the average price of a home was up 2.4 per cent from this time last year to $686,535, but down 0.6 per cent from May 2024.
Experts believe many potential buyers are still hesitant of jumping into the housing market and waiting for another interest rate cut of 50 to 100 basis points.
"I don’t think it’s going to be the rush that we see in the past, because people are used to more of a conservative approach right now," said Fillier. "I think there's still a bit of a hold back, but I definitely do think with another rate cut, we’ll probably see a very positive fall market."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
China hits Canada with anti-dumping probe on canola imports in response to EV tariffs
China said on Tuesday it plans to start an anti-dumping investigation into canola imports from Canada, after Ottawa moved to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, lifting prices of domestic rapeseed oil futures to a one-month peak.
'Like being in prison': Via Rail passenger says people stranded without food, water
A tourist visiting Canada is questioning the safety of Via Rail after he says his phone was snatched from him by an employee when he was documenting a train delay that left passengers stranded as they ran out of food, water and working toilets.
Just returned from the Olympics, a Ugandan athlete is set on fire by her boyfriend
A Ugandan athlete living in Kenya was set ablaze by her boyfriend and is currently receiving treatment for 75 per cent burns, police said.
Russian missile strike kills 41 people and wounds 180 in Ukrainian city of Poltava, Zelenskyy says
Two Russian ballistic missiles struck a military training facility and nearby hospital in a central-eastern region of Ukraine, killing at least 41 people and wounding 180 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
B.C. woman who sought $5K from neighbour over noise ordered to pay $50 for nuisance
A British Columbia woman who unsuccessfully sued her downstairs neighbour last fall for making too much noise has now failed in a bid to sue her upstairs neighbour for being too loud.
'I wouldn't be here': Ontario supervised consumption site users speak out on closures
Reggie Garrett weeps as he speaks about the Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, which houses the supervised consumption site he uses. It is one of 10 such sites slated for closure after the province announced new rules.
The US$10-million cocktail everyone is drinking at the U.S. Open
At the U.S. Open currently underway in New York, a single cocktail will surpass US$10 million in sales before the tennis grand slam event ends Sept. 8.
Move quickly on gun regulations, directives to stem domestic violence, Ottawa urged
Several civil society organizations, including women's advocates, are calling on the Liberal government to swiftly flesh out firearm legislation passed last year by enacting crucial regulations and directives.
Condoms can't be trusted and boys don't cry in Catholic Paraguay's first sex ed program
For the first time, Paraguay's Ministry of Education has endorsed a national sex ed curriculum. But in a surprising twist, it's the sexual health educators and feminists who are panicked.