One year ago, rates were at historic lows, housing values were soaring. Out of control inflation and eight rate hikes later, many people are now under financial siege.
In the heady days of February 2022, the GTA’s record high home values peaked. For the first time in history, detached houses in the City of Toronto were selling for more than $2 million on average — about $400,000, or 23 per cent more than just a year earlier.
One year and eight interest rate hikes later, and the once fevered financial climate has turned frosty for many households. The City of Toronto is looking at the highest property tax increase in decades this year – a 7 per cent hike that will add $233 to the average homeowner’s bill.The stress is showing in rising numbers of consumer insolvencies, said Laurie Campbell of Bromwich + Smith, a licenced insolvency trustee. Insolvencies were up 10 per cent annually at the end of November, the highest they have been since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
“We can’t fault them because at the time, our own central bank was telling us that rates are going to stay low for the foreseeable future and home prices are going to go nowhere but up. That was the common thinking,” he said. But when it came to new mortgages last year, only 56 per cent were fixed rate, compared to 62 per cent in 2021.
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