It has been a full business week since the people of the United Kingdom voted to take their country out of the European Union.

There was a lot of fear-mongering about the “Brexit” and initially some of the apocalyptic predictions appeared to be coming true: the pound sterling sank like lead, markets tumbled and European bond yields fell.

But a week on, cooler heads have prevailed. The markets in Toronto and New York have recovered just about all of their losses, the pound has stabilized and the Government of Canada’s 5-year yield actually went up on the flight to safety.

There are those who say the “Brexit” should not have been a surprise, pointing to the “Boaty McBoatface” fiasco. (Details here in case you missed it: https://www.theguardian.com/…/boaty-mcboatface-wins-poll-to…)

In Canada it does not appear that the “Brexit” will have any effects on housing or mortgages in the foreseeable future. Bond yields have not changed enough to influence fixed rates. Hopes of raising the prime rate in Canada and the U.S. will likely be delayed so there will be not upward pressure on variable rates.