Comments from BOC Deputy Schembri:
- Risk stemming for the housing market have been well managed by macroprodential policies
- Policies that address structural weakness in regulation are best suited for mitigating housing risks
- Recent evidence suggest tightening of mortgage rules resulted in higher average credit scores
- Urbanization and reduced supply have pushed up housing prices in major cities
- Bank of Canada is closely monitoring housing market, given that house prices have important implications for financial stability
- Likely trigger in vulnerabilities for housing market would be global shock that caused a sharp rise in unemployment.
USD/CAD was at a fresh 11-year high of 1.3316 ahead of the text but there was no reaction to the headlines. The pair is up almost 200 pips from today's European lows and oil is up 3%.
There isn't much to take away here but reading between the lines, Schembri is saying that the government should take action to mitigate housing risks, not the BOC.
Recent Canadian news had the BOC's Poloz and PM Harper confirm a discussion on market moves
