The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that lower home prices and declining interest rates on new fixed-rate mortgages are translating into affordability gains in some Canadian cities, a Globe analysis has found. The Globe's Erica Alini writes that while many Canadian cities have seen sizable home price drops over much of 2022 and 2023, soaring borrowing costs over that period have, until recently, wiped out any affordability gains. However, with lenders lowering fixed rates on new five-year mortgages, that is starting to change. The Globe compared the mortgage payments homebuyers would have to carry if they purchased an average-priced home in their local market today to what they would have paid if they had bought in February, 2022. In a handful of housing markets, those payments would be lower. The good news for homebuyers, however, is limited. The gains are typically modest. CIBC economist Benjamin Tal says that in the absence of sizable increases to the housing supply, any affordability gains are likely to be short-lived, with buyer demand bound to quickly push up prices. He says, "What we're seeing now is a situation in which we are planting the seeds for some increasing prices down the road."