Slowing Inflation Primes G-7 Central Banks for June
Inflation-related releases across the Group of Seven will prime central bankers for crucial June interest-rate decisions, just as they meet in Italy to discuss the state of the world economy.
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Inflation-related releases across the Group of Seven will prime central bankers for crucial June interest-rate decisions, just as they meet in Italy to discuss the state of the world economy.
Big US bond investors have been aggressively shifting money into long-dated notes, betting that the unloved asset class will be one of the winners from eventual interest rate cuts.
A measure of underlying US inflation cooled in April for the first time in six months, a small step in the right direction for Federal Reserve officials looking to start cutting interest rates this year.
Emerging-market currencies dipped Friday on dwindling optimism over Federal Reserve rate cuts, paring their fourth-straight week of gains.
The owner of a historic office building in Manhattan’s Financial District has filed bankruptcy to sell the property, which has been subject to foreclosure and suffered from a lack of tenants due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jan 16, 2023
Bloomberg News
,Canadian home prices posted a record decline in 2022 as rapidly rising interest rates forced a market adjustment that may have further to go.
The country’s benchmark home price fell 1.6 per cent in December to $730,600, bringing the total decrease since February’s peak to 13.2 per cent, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday. It was the biggest peak-to-trough falloff since the group started compiling the data in 2005, while 2022 also saw the biggest price decline for a calendar year since records began, with a 7.5 per cent drop between this December and last.
With the economy in danger of entering a recession, and the Bank of Canada warning of more rate hikes to counter persistent inflation, the housing market may face continued pressure in the coming months. A record number of buyers used floating-rate debt for purchases during the pandemic boom, and those borrowers may come under increasing strain if mortgage costs remain high. Job losses from an economic slowdown also would make it harder for people to keep up with loan payments and stay in their homes.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predict Canada will enter a recession in the first part of this year.
The housing slump has largely been driven by a pullback among buyers who’ve been priced out due to higher interest rates. The number of transactions in December was down 39 per cent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis from last year, when the market was approaching its peak and before interest rates started rising.
Compared with November, the number of sales in December rose 1.3 per cent, while new listings fell 6.4 per cent as more prospective sellers opted to try and wait out the market weakness.
Part of that may be seasonal: Listings tend to slow during Canada’s winter months, then pick up again when the weather warms in the spring, traditionally the busiest time to sell.
So far, the decline in prices doesn’t seem to be enough to lure back many buyers because it’s been so outpaced by the rise in borrowing costs. A report last month by Royal Bank of Canada showed that for the typical buyer dependent on a mortgage, housing affordability deteriorated to its worst level ever.