The biggest news this month has been how low interest rates have moved. With the Bank of Canada overnight lending rate at 0.5%, we have officially hit a historical low. Many economists are predicting that the overnight lending rates will not move much lower. Instead the Bank of Canada is looking at different means of stimulating the economy. One of the things mentioned in their March 3 announcement is that they are looking at credit and quantitative easing to create monetary stimulus. Another thing to note in the release is that the Bank of Canada expects the effects of their policies to be felt in the second half of this year and that due to the underlying strength of the Canadian economy and financial sector we will recover more quickly than the rest of the world.

If you are thinking of buying real estate sometime in the future, protect your right to the low rates by getting a pre-approval (email me if you have no idea how to do this).

If you bought last year and got into a fixed rate mortgage it may be worthwhile to have someone take a look at how you can get into a cheaper rate and pay less on your monthly mortgage. Many people are finding that they can refinance, take out equity to invest, roll in their penalties and still have lower monthly mortgage payments.