First off, I missed this entirely. From everything I was seeing and hearing the economy was cooling. The housing markets had already stalled a bit after the recent changes to mortgage qualifying requirements in April, oil prices had dropped almost $10 from a few weeks ago, our dollar has dropped a nickel against the US, the crisis in Greece still has some huge ramifications and the general consensus is not much is happening right now as people wait for everything to play out.
Then again I don’t run the central bank, perhaps I missed something? I did see a report from the OECD predicting the Canadian economy has rebounded vigorously, but I don’t think vigorous was exactly the correct word? Really we aren’t doing bad, all things considered.
When you look at the horrors still facing the US (trillions in deficits, billions of pending foreclosures, huge unemployment rates) we are pretty stable. When you see what’s happening in Europe and how countries like Greece are becoming financially unstable, once again our situation doesn’t seem so bad.
I just think the rate hike may be a bit premature, our economy needs some more legs underneath it. The important part to remember is there is no additional indication of this being the trend. We all understand rates only have one way to go, but if it’s done gradually the impact should be minimal, only time will tell though.
How does the rate change affect you? Did you lock in your rate before today for an upcoming mortgage? Are you wondering whether it’s time to switch from variable to a fixed rate mortgage due to this? Ask me some questions and I will tell you my thoughts, even if I got this one wrong!
