TORONTO (CU)_Ultra-low interest rates boosted Canada’s real estate market at a record level amid the COVID-19 pandemic, having propped up home sales and prices to new heights. However, in late-October, the Bank of Canada (BoC) signalled that its benchmark interest rate may be raised sooner than anticipated. In its Monetary Policy Report on last week, the central bank announced its decision to end its bond-buying stimulus programme and added that rate hikes could be expected during the “middle quarters of 2022”, a shift from the original forecast of rates being on hold into 2023.
Against such a background, a prominent Bay Street economist is of the view that there is…
