The short answer is, a little bit maybe.
In an interesting study, that I found in reference section of the Bank of Canada’s Mortgage Securitization Report, (http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/fsr-december2015-mordel.pdf), it was found that mortgage rates only affected prices by a negligible .45%. The report showed a very weak link between mortgage rates and prices which I thought was counter-intuitive. However there were two items that had big influences on price, access to credit and household income. I quote from the authors conclusion on page 25, ”
“We estimate an elasticity of house prices to interest rates that is below 10, implying that the drop in mortgage rates cannot account for the increase in house prices between 2000 and 2006. However, we do show that those credit conditions matter for the formation of prices. Our results do not support a view that credit market conditions purely respond to housing demand, but point instead to a directional effect that easier credit supply leads to an increase in house prices. ”
So easy lending policies and a good employment outlook vs low rates are bigger factors in driving house prices up. The original report is here (http://www.nber.org/papers/w17832.pdf)
The Lending Outlet (https://lendingoutlet.ca) has access to the Chartered banks and their smaller competitors so we have access to a variety underwriting policies that may suit your needs. We can help when your bank won’t.
