Interest rate hike will be felt in local real estate market
Posted Jul 21, 2010 06:23:33 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canada’s major banks have already followed the central bank’s lead and have started raising interest rates. And while the increase is small, and the rate remains relatively low, the effects will be felt in Nova Scotia.
Karen Edwards with the Nova Scotia Association of Realtors says higher rates will have an impact on the local real estate market. She says buyers may wait, or save more for a down payment, but higher interest doesn’t always hurt the market.
“I purchased my first home at 19.75 per cent some time ago and five years later when I sold it I still made money on it,” she said. “So I don’t think that it’s something people should be overly concerned about.”
Lars Osburg with Dalhousie’s economics department agrees the rates are nowhere near historic highs.
But he says they are higher than in the U.S.A.
“It’s a very small interest rate compared to what we were used to in previous years,” he said. “It’s relatively large compared to the bank rate in the United States.”
While Canada’s economy is performing better than America’s, some are concerned the hike may be too soon.
