Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
.9Well, the bank of Canada just made it seventh consecutive rate cut this morning for another 0.
25%.
.891769617So what's it all mean? Well, in this video, we're going to break everything down for you, including what this may mean to the Canadian housing market, how this impacts you and what might be next for Canada and its economy.
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So if you're new to the show, my name's Tom Moffitt, and I'm joined by my cohost, Brandon Love, we're both top producing mortgage brokers here in Canada, and we love to simplify real estate for you.
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While also helping you achieve financial freedom and a broken blueprint that exists here in Canada today.
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So news of the rate cut today did not come as a surprise for anyone.
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Uh, industry experts, economists, and widespread market speculators were actually Thinking we might see a jumbo cut today.
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So a reduction of 0.
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25 was a pretty tepid response from the bank of Canada.
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Yeah.
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And it, it's funny because even three weeks ago it was the complete opposite.
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30 percent of economists were stating that.
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They probably aren't expecting a cut whatsoever.
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It's just, it's funny how this year it's been literally day to day things evolve and change.
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So you, uh, as much as people like to speculate of what's coming next to like, we really don't know because anything could change.
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For sure.
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We always say there's no crystal ball.
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And this year is a great example of that.
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You want to plan for your long term strategy and think about it in terms of like a football game.
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Okay.
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If you have a bad first quarter, you don't change up all the entire lineup.
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You might make some subtle tweaks, but you're not throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
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That's the same thing when it comes to your mortgage.
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So.
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Stick to a strategy that you can plan for long term, but recognize that there are periods like this and there are political leaders and tensions and things like that that do add to volatility in certain scenarios.
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Okay, so let's jump into the reasons for the cut.
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Despite stronger than expected growth, the cut addresses uncertainty from trade tensions and it aims to stabilize the Canadian economy.
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Really we are going into 2025 with an outlook that Well, once revisited, GDP grew 2.
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6 percent in Q4 of 2024.
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This was revised up from previously reported 2.
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2 percent in Q3.
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Now, this growth was bolstered by past rate cuts.
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So we do have to be a little bit cautious about that and realize that it is expected to slow down in Q1 2025 due to trade conflicts.
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So going forward to this, we.
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We entered 2025 in solid condition, okay, GDP growth and inflation were near that 2 percent target, but trade tensions and U.
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S.
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tariffs are expected to slow economic activity and increase inflationary pressures.
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So like we said, it is volatile because These tariffs day to day things change.
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So a lot ebbs and flows on what happens there.
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And then the market reaction to that.
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So let's dive into how this actually impacts you, because I don't know about you, but when I read about tariffs, sometimes I'm like, Okay.
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How does this actually apply to my day to day life? And for every Canadian, this is going to be a little bit different based on the industry you're in, but broad strokes, there are impacts of the rate cuts today that do apply to Yeah.
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So the media has a really tough time in, in really simplifying and in a digestible form for consumers.
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They always talk about the overnight lending rate and a lot of consumers, people, the general public.
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Think that they're referring to the actual interest rate the overnight lending rate is really just a fancy way of saying like, Hey, this is what the bar is set by the bank of Canada and the banks will have their own prime rate that's set.
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So when it comes to variable rate mortgages, they are always dictated by the prime rate.
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So for example, today.
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Banks will most likely all lower their prime rate to 4.
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95%.
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Now, some banks have their own prime rate, but what they'll give you from a variable rate perspective is either a discount or a surplus on prime.
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So in today's world, we're seeing discounts off of prime.
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So you might be looking at a prime minus 0.
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4 to prime minus 1 percent to give you some examples there.
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So that's the variable rate mortgage.
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If you have a variable already.
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There's two different kinds of variable rates.
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So you have the static variable, you have an adjustable rate mortgage.
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So the differences between two are how they sound.
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A static variable is the payment stays the same throughout the entirety of the term.
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It does not fluctuate whether prime goes up or down.
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The payment stays the same, but the net rate on the backend does change.
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So if we are in a environment where rates.
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Uh, decrease, your net effective rate will go lower and you're also paying more principal towards the mortgage.
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When you have a static variable rate mortgage.
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Now an adjustable rate is how it sounds.
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It adjusts with the prime going up and down.
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So your payment will fluctuate.
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So if you do have an ARM adjustable rate mortgage, your payment will change by next payment, uh, period, which is next month.
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So, um, those are the main differences between the two.
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And it's really important that.
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We touch on fixed rates as well, because going back to my main point of how the media has a really hard time in simplifying it and digesting it for consumers is a lot of people think that the bank of Canada sets fixed rates where that really isn't the case.
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Fixed rates are taught or tied to the bond market, which does have a direct influence to what the bank of Canada does, but it doesn't necessarily say, Hey, prime rate is going down 0.
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25%.
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The bank of Canada has lowered it 0.
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25 percent today.
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Then that means fixed rates are going down 0.
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25%.
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That's, that's not how it works.
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But, uh, fixed rates are literally fluctuating.
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It seems like on a day to day basis here with, uh, with lenders.
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for sure.
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And the lenders do have an opportunity to really tweak that pricing.
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So at certain points, they might look at the broader economy and say, Hey, we want to add a ton of three year fixed rate mortgages to our book.
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So they'll really discount the three year fix and the five year fix is worse.
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At other times, it's the inverse of that.
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So it's really day to day, like we said, very volatile market.
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But that is partially based off the bond market, but I'm partially based off the lenders and how they want to mitigate risk within their book.
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Yeah.
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And to give you an example, I mean, we're looking at, what was it? Monday or Tuesday.
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We had a good majority of the lenders, let's call it around 70 percent of lenders adjusting their, their fixed rates, uh, lowering them.
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And that was before the bank of Canada announcing the, the, the lowering of rates today.
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So again, there are two separate things there.
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It's really important to, to know the differences there and to touch on line of credits.
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Your rate will change effectively today.
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Because the interest is compounded daily.
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So if you have a home equity line of credit, or you have an unsecured line of credit, you will see that change effectively today.
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And if you have a home equity line of credit, hit the subscribe button because we are going to be sharing strategies in future videos of how you can use that home equity line of credit to reduce your overall mortgage rate and additional strategies on how to use it as a tool to make your mortgage tax deductible.
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What do you think is is coming next down the pipe for us and the rest of the canadian economy? so we will always say this over and over again, that there is no crystal ball on.
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How this works out.
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We'll say that's that we don't have to eat our shorts when rates go the other way, but also because we can't control the tantrums of the orange man in the States or of whatever comes next with Canadian leadership.
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So there's a lot of variables that play into this and, you know, just the global market as a whole.
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So no crystal ball, but all indicators do point towards future rate Yeah, and one thing I will say too is if you are whether you're shopping for a home You have a mortgage and you're staying put or you're renewing or refinancing whatever the case is Make sure whatever you're picking from a a rate perspective.
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You're comfortable with it as an example first time homebuyers We likely will always suggest that we, uh, that you consider the fixed rate in the environment environments like this, because it's a bit more stable, you know, what your payment's going to be throughout the term.
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Now there's some exceptions to that rule.
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If the first time home buyers are high income earners and the mortgage compared to what they make, uh, the payment that is, is a relatively low payment, then sure, go with the variable because, you know, over the history of time, variables have outperformed fixed rates with COVID as the exception.
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So just.
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Bottom line, whatever you are deciding on picking, uh, for your renewal, refi, or purchase, just make sure you're comfortable with it at the end of the day.
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Yeah, I think the key thing to remember here is everyone talks a lot about rates, what's going on in the government, all this different shit, but really we live in our monthly budget.
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So figure out what your monthly budget is.
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Do you have room to swing up? If you don't just do the fix, because you know, the, the benefit of capturing the swing down is nice, but you have to prepare for if it goes the other way.
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And you don't want to be giving up kids swimming lessons and taking your vacation because you bet on rates coming down.
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So always do what's comfortable.
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Remember that you live in that monthly payment and you don't need to be a speculator in these types of scenarios.
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So, jumping forward from here, what can we see from housing market reactions? And I'm just going to quickly touch on both the positive impact and negative impact of what's going on in Canada right now.
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So, positive impact of interest rate cuts, previous rate reductions have already boosted housing activity.
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So there are buyers coming back into the fray who are seeing the positive rate market, and they're less scared to jump into the water.
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So this leads to increase consumption and demand in the sector.
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Uh, the lower policy rate also brings down mortgage rates and.
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It increases and supports that housing demand.
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So really people say, like I said, they live in that monthly.
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They say, Oh, I can now afford to live in this home.
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And that makes them more likely to buy the home and take the risk there.
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Now there's a negative impact right now.
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Obviously there's trade tensions.
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So there's heightened uncertainty and these.
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This kind of trade conflict and tariff, it weighs on consumer's minds.
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Like everyone you talk to is talking about tariffs right now.
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And typically these people don't usually talk about anything in the economy.
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So you can tell it's very present.
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It's very top of mind.
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And when you're your average borrower, you start to get very nervous about what's going on in the market.
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So this is something that's definitely going to have an impact on real estate.
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Also the slower economic growth projection for Q1 could temper housing market activity as job growth stalls and business sentiment weakens.
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So that's once again, like if you start seeing, Hey, my buddy got laid off.
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We just saw in the mortgage industry, a whole lender shut down Canadian operations.
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You start seeing things like this and you're like, maybe it isn't the best time to buy.
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So these kinds of pervasive thoughts are something that we'll keep an eye on.
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So whereas we typically see an increase in prices with falling rates, right now, it's a unique scenario where there's some hesitation and, you know, there's always going to be some who will swim in the other direction and see this as an opportunity to invest where among them, but there's going to be a broader sense that maybe it's time to keep our.
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Our purse a little close Yeah.
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And if you are trying to time the market, we always say, don't try to time the markets time in the market.
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So whether you're buying an investment property, Or whether you're trying to move up in the property ladder, do it.
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If it, if it makes sense for you, if you really need that extra space for your, for your family, then sure.
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It makes sense.
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Just, just keep in mind, there are some risks there.
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Like we are seeing some houses that are sitting a lot longer on the, on the market right now.
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That could change as we near the spring market here.
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But, like Brandon said, there's, there's some pros and cons to, to both buying and selling right now.
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for sure.
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And also think about where you're buying and where you're investing in.
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So, you know, you can see heavy tariffs on aluminum and steel, like the steel industry in Hamilton, for example, this is going to have a broader impact over there.
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So.
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You know, that's something where prices could come down, but if you're in another area where, you know, there's not as much industry jobs, like it's more of like just an investment community or cottage country or things like that, like you might not see the, the drop off, but the flip side is also true of that where cottagers might feel the pinch because they own in other areas and sell off those properties.
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So just things like that.
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You want to look at the broader picture, look at the immediate end.
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Industry impact, look at broader things in the economy that could impact the areas, and then make that decision that you know you can support and it won't crush you if the house price on something you buy goes down by 5 percent one year and takes two years to catch up with an average 3 percent growth.
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If you're going to hold the property, that's not a huge deal.
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But if you're trying to do a fix and flips, for example, that's where you need to tread more cautiously.
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Yeah.
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So let's touch a bit on the, the inflation currently right now, you know, the current levels, inflation remains near the 2 percent range and with January CPI at one, 1.
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9%.
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It's expected to rise to 2.
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5 percent in March as a temporary GST HST suspension ends.
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So the real main metric here that we want to pay attention to is the core inflation, which.
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Persistent shelter price inflation has kept that core inflation above 2%.
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Yeah, we've talked about this time and time again.
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It's kind of funny that You know, we raise rates to, to bring down inflation, but then, you know, we have inflation caused by the rising rates leading to shelter costs increases.
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So it's kind of this funny, like chicken and the egg scenario, but yeah, we have to do, we do have to keep an eye on things like that GST, HST credit that's ending and things like that, that aren't.
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Like boosting the market unnaturally, the little government interventions.
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So that's something to keep a little eye on there for sure.,
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inflation expectations to come.
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They are rising due to tariff related costs fears.
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the trade war impact is going to be viewed by the Bank of Canada through a lens that monetary policy cannot fully counteract the effects of a trade war.
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So.
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The Bank of Canada is going to be hyper focused on preventing short term price increases becoming future persistent inflation.
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So, you might pay a little bit more at a grocery store or a gas station or wherever right now.
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They want that to be temporary.
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They don't want that to be long term set in going forward.
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So that's something they're really going to watch.
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Yeah.
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So buckle up.
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We're in for quite a ride here in 2025.
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If you aren't subscribed already, make sure to hit that subscribe button and we'll see you on the next video.