On Wednesday, The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate by 25 basis points to 4.75 per cent, which is the first increase since hikes were paused back in January.
In relation to the housing market in Swift Current, Kelsey Adam, real estate agent for Century 21, said the increase could potentially be an asset.
“We have seen a little bit of a slower start to real estate sales for the beginning of the year, and I attribute some of that to interest rates going down because what was happening, was people were waiting to see how low they would go.
“Now that the interest rates have taken a turn to go up again a little bit, I think that will pick up the real estate markets.”
The bank of Canada’s key interest rate has not been this high since April of 2001.
“I'm not saying it's better for the people because they may have a little bit more interest to pay, but at the same point in time when interest rates go down, people tend to hold off buying just to see how logo go,” Adam clarified. “Now that they've made a little upward movement, I think a lot of them will say, ‘gee, we waited about as long as we should wait, we should maybe be doing something.’”
He added that if you have been to see a mortgage broker or mortgage lender, and have been pre-approved, it is important to ensure that the interest rate is set.
“Make sure that whatever interest rate that you had at that time was locked in so that if interest rates do go up a little bit more, the interest rate that you were locked in at will hold whether it's 30 days or 60 days, depending on the institution,” he concluded.