August 2022 -- Canadian Mortgage & Housing Market Snapshot
1) Bank of Canada rate decisions - No Bank of Canada rate announcement occurred in August 2022. - The policy rate remained: - 2.50% throughout August 2022 - The most recent decision before August was: - July 13, 2022 -- raised to 2.50% - The next decision after August was: - September 7, 2022 -- raised to 3.25% - So for August 2022 specifically, the effective overnight rate remained 2.50% all month.
2) Mortgage rate snapshot -- August 2022 The broad August 2022 mortgage-rate picture was:
- Prime rate: about 4.70%
- Variable rates:
- generally in the mid-4% range
- depending on lender discounts and borrower profile
- 5-year fixed:
- generally in the high-4% to mid-5% range
- fixed-rate pricing remained elevated after the July tightening shock
- Practical takeaway:
- August 2022 was firmly a high-rate adjustment period relative to the prior two years
- affordability and qualification were much more difficult than they had been earlier in 2022
Caveat: I did not find a single authoritative national source giving an exact Canada-wide “average 5-year fixed” and “average variable” for August 2022 only, so these remain approximate market ranges.
3) Housing market data -- August 2022
Canada (national) Month-specific reporting for August 2022 showed: - National home sales: up 1.3% month-over-month from July - National average sale price: about $637,673 - down about 3.9% year-over-year - Months of inventory: around 3.3 months - Interpretation: - the housing market showed a slight month-over-month stabilization in sales - but prices remained below year-ago levels nationally and the market was still far cooler than in 2021 / early 2022
GTA / Ontario proxy For TRREB / GTA August 2022: - Sales: 5,627 - Year-over-year sales change: -34.2% - Average selling price: $1,079,395 - up 0.7% year-over-year - New listings: 12,918 - up 8.8% year-over-year - Interpretation: - GTA sales remained weak relative to the prior year - average prices were no longer surging, but they were still elevated - more listings were coming to market, consistent with a cooler environment
Ontario-wide I did not find a clean primary Ontario-wide August 2022 housing dataset in this run that I’m comfortable quoting directly. The strongest Ontario-specific evidence here remains TRREB / GTA.
4) Regulatory / policy news -- August 2022 I did not verify a major new OSFI, FSRA, or federal mortgage-policy shock landing specifically in August 2022.
Best month-specific characterization - August 2022 was largely a between-hikes month - The relevant policy backdrop remained: - BoC at 2.50% - markets expecting further tightening - higher qualification and payment stress already affecting borrower behavior - No fresh August-only mortgage-rule change clearly stood out in this pass ## 5) Private/Alternative lending -- August 2022 I did not find a clean Ontario-only private-lending data release for August 2022 in this run.
Best month-specific characterization - the combination of: - higher rates - weaker resale conditions - tougher qualification likely increased the relevance of: - alternative lenders - private lending - bridge / rescue financing - But I do not have a clean August-only Ontario metric to quote directly - The main market story was still: - cooling mainstream housing demand under tighter financial conditions
6) Notable events -- August 2022 ### Major headlines - No BoC move in August - but the July 100 bp hike was still working through the market - National sales show slight monthly stabilization - up modestly from July - National prices remain below year-ago levels - GTA remains sharply cooler than 2021 - but prices are still around $1.08 million
What defined August 2022 The defining themes were: - high borrowing costs - cooling sales - price adjustment / stabilization - more listings - a market transitioning away from boom conditions but not collapsing outright ### Fraud / court / lender events - I did not find a single clearly dominant mortgage fraud case, lender collapse, or court ruling that I could confidently verify as a defining August 2022 mortgage headline in this run
---