Bank of Canada Rate Cut vs. Tariffs: Which Will Dictate the Spring Market?
Clay Jarvis | Nerdwallet • April 1, 2025
Under normal circumstances — anyone remember what those feel like? — falling mortgage rates would be fuel for the spring housing market. But it’s hard to start a fire when the Canadian economy is soaked through with tariff-related fear and uncertainty.
The Bank of Canada is doing what it can to warm home buyers up. By lowering the overnight rate for the seventh consecutive time today, the Bank has helped slash 2.25% from variable mortgage rates since June 2024.
Once lenders absorb today’s cut, both five-year variable rates and the most common fixed rates will be available for below 4%.
Historically, those are approachable rates. But we’ll soon find out how little rates matter when home buyers face an unprecedented threat to their livelihoods.
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π‘ Fraser Valley home prices back to pandemic-era levels under the weight of economic headwinds and sustained inventory π SURREY, BC – Home prices in the Fraser Valley fell for the tenth consecutive month in January, pushing the Benchmark price below $900,000 for the first time since spring 2021. The Benchmark price for a typical home in the Fraser Valley dropped one per cent in January to $897,200, down 6.9 per cent year-over-year. The continued softening of prices wasn’t enough to get buyers off the sidelines, as the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board recorded 619 sales on its Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in January, a 33 per cent decrease from December, and 24 per cent below sales from the same month last year. New listings increased 128 per cent in January to 3,078, reflecting the typical seasonal patterns; however, activity remained 10 per cent below last year’s levels.
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