A jump in the key interest rate is not expected to have much of an effect on the red hot local housing market.
The Bank of Canada announced Wednesday a quarter percent increase up to 0.5% to help fight inflation.
Local realtor Brad Bondy of RE/MAX Preferred Realty says a rate hike has been on the horizon for quite a while and it was only a matter of time before it was rolled out.
He says ongoing demand is going to outweigh any increase.
"There's just still so much pent up demand and so few listings. Unless the interest rate is going to go significantly higher, but because there's so many buyers out there, the demand out there, there's just so many buyers out there."
Bondy says, increase or not, it's still a tough market to get into for first time buyers.
"We tell our first time home buyers or people that have been losing out on multiple offers, and we're still having plenty of multiple offers out there right now, not to get disappointed and to stick with it. You've got to be patient though, but the demand is still there and it's going to remain there as long as inventory is low."
He says a much larger jump would be needed to shake up the market.
"If it does go up a substantial amount, but if it goes up half a point here, a quarter of a point there, I really don't think, in this area, it's going to affect it too much. But if it jumps up 5% or 6% or whatever the case may be, absolutely it's going to make a difference."
This is the first increase to the the key interest rate since it was slashed to 0.25% at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average sale price for a home in Windsor-Essex in February came in at $704,000 — that's a 45% jump compared to a year ago.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides