The Bank of Canada announced this morning that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent.  In its accompanying statement, the Bank noted that total CPI inflation has reached its 2 per cent target sooner than the Bank had forecast due to higher energy prices and a lower Canadian dollar. On economic growth, the Bank expects an improvement in exports in the second half of the year as well as strengthening business investment and a soft landing in the housing market. The Bank judges that the balance of risk in the Canadian economy is weighted modestly to downside risk to inflation.

Inflation in Canada has started to move materially higher in recent months, driven by a substantial increase in energy costs.  At the same time, the Canadian economy has posted disappointing growth due to slowing household spending and a drag on exports from weakness in the United States.  However, as the Bank noted in its statement, there are good reasons to believe that both of these trends will prove temporary.  Much of first quarter economic weakness was due to unusually severe winter weather which kept consumers at home and construction projects delayed.  As the weather warms up, we anticipate a rebound in growth in the second quarter. As for inflation, the impact of higher energy prices on headline CPI should fade in coming months and the Bank has already suggested it will look past the transitory increase in inflation. However, there does seem to be some underlying momentum in core CPI, which if sustained will be much harder for the Bank to ignore. For now, we anticipate the Bank will remain in neutral, leaving rates unchanged until 2015. 

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.

Every month the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board (OMREB) does a survey to get a better understanding of buyers. Below is a summary of the survey that shows what types of properties are being bought, the family dynamic of buyers and where the buyers are coming from. If you have any questions about this survey or any other Kelowna real estate stats, call The Dion-Ivans Real Estate Team!

APRIL SURVEY SUMMARY

Property Type:

28.7% of purchases were by Move-Up Buyers (up from 24.7% in March) *
21.1% by First Time Buyers  (down from 22.3%)
10.6% moving from Single Family Home to Strata Unit  (down from 11.6%) 
9.9% buying Recreation Property  (up from 7.4%) *
9.6% buying Revenue/Investment Property  (up from 7.0%) *
6.3% moving into Retirement Home/Seniors Community  (up from 4.2%) *
3.6% moving from Strata property to Single Family Home  (up from 2.8%) *

* During the month of April, there was an increase in purchases by move-up buyers, and those moving into retirement/seniors communities and from strata properties to single family homes, as well as recreation and revenue properties, compared to the previous month.

Buyer Type (Family Dynamic):

27.8% Two Parent Family/Children (up from 20.0% in March) **
24.0% Couple without Children (down from 28.6%) 
19.2% Empty Nester/Retired (down from 21.4%)
12.0% Single Male (down from 13.6%) 
11.4% Single Female (up from 10.9%) **
3.5% Single Parent with Children (down from 4.1%)

** There were more purchases by two parent families with children and single females during April than in March.

Moving From: 

51.1% from Within OMREB Board Area  (up from 50.5% in March) *** 
20.2% from Alberta (up from 17.1%) *** 
10.1% from Other Areas in BC  (down from 13.6%)
9.8% from Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island  (down from 11.4%)
4.1% from Saskatchewan/Manitoba (up from 2.7%) ***
3.1% from Eastern Canada/Maritimes (up from 2.3%) ***
1.6% from Outside Canada  (down from 3.2%)
0% from NWT/Yukon (same as March)

*** Compared to March, more buyers moved from within the Board area, Alberta, other areas of BC, the Lower Mainland/Vancouver Island, Saskatchewan/Manitoba, and Eastern Canada/Maritimes in April.