The housing market started the new year off with a thud. There was no dead cat bounce this month as home sales across all property types declined, slipping to a 10 year low. Indeed, it was not the start home sellers had been looking for. New listings far outpaced the number of sales, pushing inventory higher and home prices lower. Mortgage credit growth continued to decelerate dropping again in the month of December as per the Bank of Canada. With mortgage credit growth slumping to a 35 year low there remains little desire from policymakers to amend the mortgage stress tests despite industry opposition. The market has, however, received a glimmer of hope in the fact that the five-year Canada mortgage bond has plummeted nearly 70 basis points as of this report, and has pushed down five year fixed mortgage rates by about 10 basis points. The Bank of Canada appears to be on hold at least for now and with economic data beginning to sour they could be on hold for good.