Well.... yesterday the Bank of Canada decided to leave it's over night lending rate at 1%.  Seems that concerns about sovereign debt (what's up with Ireland??!!) could strain the global economy.  On top of that the Bank of Canada also acknoledged that economic growth in Canada has moved much more slowly than anticipated throughout the 2nd half of this year. 

Obviously this bodes well for buyers and those people looking to re-finance or re-mortgage their homes.  It's interesting that rates have been expected to increase substantially throughout the year with "the sky is falling" opinions from many analysts.  As a realtor the hardship, other than the obvious impact on the market, is that it is very difficult for us to advise our clients or, for that matter, even provide an opinion.   It used to be that while socializing the first question I'm asked is "what's up with house prices" but now it's "what's up with interest rates".   The good news for most of us is that there is a belief that the Bank of Canada will sit tight on it's position until mid 2011. 

Check out the best available mortgage rates at institutions across canada by clicking ratehub.ca

Wow, interest rates are about as good as they can get!! 

It wasn't that many years ago that we were quoting the average 5 year rate at 11% and saying "do you remember when rates hit 18%??"  The following rates are posted by Andrea Lockerbye from Premier Mortgage Centre:

 MORTGAGE RATES

PRIME 3.00% November 5, 2010

According to a report just released by BMO average housing prices are about 11% over valued but the market is not experiencing a bubble and chances are we won't see a market collapse A La USA style.  In my own experience we are definitley seeing a correction of sorts but not "in your face" as it was south of us.  Fortunately our low interest rates have kept a steady flow of buyers in the market, the bad news is the lower interest rates means that people are really buying more house than they can afford and/or refinancing for major renos etc.  Let's hope that we don't see a rapid swing in interest rates in the near future, that would be catastrophic!!