The Bank of Canada announced its updates on interests rates yesterday, and if you haven't head – rates remains flat at 5%.
This represents the sixth consecutive announcement by Governor Macklem, who mentioned that now he is seeing necessary conditions for a cut, BUT wants to see sustained progress in inflation before lowering rates.
Falling in-line with economist expectations, some economists continue to believe rate cuts are inevitable, some as soon as June 2024, and some even believe there may be 2 to 3 cuts THIS YEAR.
The only offset to this is that US reported inflation yesterday HIGHER than expected, which could influence the Bank of Canada's decisions as they consider various factors such as foreign exchange, trade impact among other things.
The next Bank of Canada meeting will be June 5 where we'll find out what happens, but again all hinges on that ultimate inflation figure.
In other news, particularly around Calgary's rezoning proposal: there has been an uproar against Calgary's increased density plans, with many residents fighting tooth and nail... the key date for a week-long counsel meeting beginning April 22, 2024.
The new zoning codes:
• R-CG in established communities – which is primarily for rowhouses, but also allows for single detached, side-by-side and duplex homes that may include a secondary suite
• R-G in newer communities – which allows for a mix of low-density housing, including single-detached, side-by-side, duplex, cottage housing clusters and rowhouse development, all of which can include a secondary suite
• H-GO in newer communities – which allows for “higher intensity redevelopment than that of R-CG, but still maintains direct ground-level access for all homes (i.e. no apartment forms)