Thank you, yes. That is a good question.
Up until now, the steps taken by the government, OSFI and by us, through our upward bias with respect to our interest rates, have, all together, succeeded in reducing the activity rate in the household sector and the credit growth rate. I can give you a few significant figures.
For instance, last year we had approximately 225,000 housing starts; now, this figure has dropped to 185,000, according to our demographic demand estimate. These numbers have therefore fallen off slightly, after having been clearly high for some time. As for the resale sector, last year there were 480,000 units sold, and now the figure is 430,000, slightly below the average for the past 10 years. The growth rate of household credit is now approximately 4%. Last year, it was 6%, and before that, it was 10%. This rate has therefore dropped significantly.
As the Governor stated, this entire evolution is positive. It is not occurring too quickly, we do not see an acceleration. However, it is important to note that, in our opinion, even though the household debt-to-income ratio is about to stabilize, it is still relatively high. The same thing applies to the price of houses. So there are still some vulnerabilities. This gradual evolution must continue.
Going back to your question, I would say that it is too soon to drop our guard. If ever we see an acceleration, we will have to look at the measures that could be taken.