Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks for being here.
I want to have you address the issue of regional variations. You mentioned in the monetary policy report a pronounced decline in house prices in certain regions.
I, of course, represent a riding in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Rising interest rates have provoked a lot of hardship. These are people who have a high debt ratio; there is no doubt. That's because wages have basically stagnated. We've seen a marked increase in the housing market and the price of housing.
The net impact has been.... Certainly in my area, from New Westminster and Burnaby into Vancouver, about 20,000 housing units are empty. They're being bought by speculators or offshore money. Because of higher interest rates, they are no longer available for folks who have an average salary.
Could you speak to that regional variation? I understand the overall national perspective, but in some regions of this country that increase in interest rates has a more pronounced impact than in others, because of the fact that housing prices are so high to begin with.