Wednesday, 14 June 2023
By Leahs Mortgages
Leah Zlatkin Quoted in the Globe and Mail: “Latest interest rate hike jolts Toronto real estate market”
The recent interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada, raising the benchmark rate to 4.75%, has caused surprise and concern among Toronto-area real estate market participants.
One immediate effect, predicts Leah Zlatkin, a mortgage broker and expert with LowestRates.ca., is that many potential buyers with preapproved mortgage agreements will rush to use them within the next few weeks.
Still, Ms. Zlatkin is advising those entering the market for the first time to try to strike a deal before their preapproved mortgage agreement expires.
“That’s a very risky position for most young buyers to be in,” she said. “If you’ve got a preapproval in hand, go out and do your shopping.”
Ms. Zlatkin said she expects the market to remain hot for the next few weeks as people rush to put those agreements to use. She said buyers who don’t have an active preapproval may feel less urgency, while other buyers may bow out all together because they’re so shaken.
