There were more treats than tricks in today's monthly GDP data. The Canadian economy expanded for a seventh consecutive month in August, growing at a 0.1 per cent monthly rate.  Growth was driven by the oil and gas and finance and insurance sectors.  The output of real estate agents and brokers jumped 2 per cent, the third straight monthly increase. However, output from Canadian real estate agents and brokers remained close to 17 per cent lower than the December 2017 level prior to the introduction of the B20 mortgage stress test.

With two months of third quarter GDP data now available, we are tracking overall third quarter growth at close to 2 per cent.  With the economy on solid footing, the Bank of Canada will continue to raise its policy rate over the next year. While we expect that the next move will be in January, a December rate hike can not be ruled out completely.

Copyright British Columbia Real Estate Association. Reprinted with permission.