One day after a report showed Canadian housing sales were down 30%, most major banks announced they were cutting mortgage rates.
Most banks trimmed mortgage rated by one 10th of a percentage point, effective Tuesday morning.
The move brings the five-year closed rate down to 5.49%.
The move doesn't affect the one-year closed rate for mortgages, which is holding steady at 3.30 per cent at most institutions.
Meanwhile, a report on Monday from the Canadian Real Estate Association showed housing sales dropped by 30% nationwide last month, largely due to a new tax in British Columbia and Ontario that experts say deterred home buyers in two of the country's hottest housing markets.
The association reported a 6.8% drop in home sales through its MLS service, compared with June numbers. The decline is part of a gradual dampening of Canada's once-booming real estate market.
B.C. and Ontario accounted for roughly 85% of the slump, as the implementation of the harmonized sales tax this summer pushed many home buyers to purchase earlier this year, the association said in a statement.
The two provinces typically represent more than half of the country's sales.
