Believe it or not, lower oil prices does have an effect in housing and in the mortgage market. At Robert Floris’ Mortgage Architects office we continue to monitor what these effects will have on our mortgage clients. If there was one city I would be worried about, it would be Calgary as this Canadian city is so reliant on the oil industry. If the price continues to be low, look for a slow down but more importantly a drop in the average price of their median home sales.

As for Hamilton, we will not be affected as bad as Calgary. In fact, the recent price of oil has caused our dollar to go to under 84 cents as compared to the US dollar. Why is this somewhat positive? Well, Hamilton Ontario still has a large manufacturing base and this will allow us to increase our exports to our neighbours in the South. As far as interest rates are concerned, many experts are calling for a rise in mortgage rates this year. I really don’t believe this will happen, our economy is still very soft and Canadians are in heavy debt.