Home buyers and sellers now know that the key interest rate will be remaining steady for the time being, or at least until the Bank of Canada's next meeting September 4th. This is the 6th time in a row that the Bank has decided to maintain the overnight rate citing a sluggish economy and global trade tensions. The Bank positively noted that "Recent data show the Canadian economy is returning to potential growth ... however, the outlook is clouded by persistent trade tensions.

JANUARY REAL ESTATE STATISTICS Below is a summary for Metro Vancouver. You can find the statistics for specific property types in specific areas by going here (neighbourhoods in West Vancouver, North Vancouver, East Vancouver and Vancouver West are covered. Alternatively, feel free to get in touch with me and I'll be happy to provide the statistics for the area you are interested in. February has started off busy and January saw the number of listings increase across all hous

As was widely anticipated, the Bank of Canada raised the overnight target rate yesterday by a quarter percent, increasing it from 1.5% to 1.75%. Most major backs quickly followed suit, hiking their prime rates to 3.85% up from 3.7%. It appears that most increases are to follow.Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC Capital Markets explained in a message to clients shortly after the announcement that he felt the next increase could happen as early as the Bank of Canada's next

The latest real estate statistics are out for September. As most buyers and sellers are aware, housing demand is decreasing and overall prices are softening with this. At the same time, The Bank of Canada is expected to raise the key interest rate at it's next meeting on October 24th, with analysts predicting a total increase of 0.5% by early 2019 and more hikes likely to follow throughout the year. This means that many buyers will likely want to get in the market before the

New government regulations will require homebuyers to qualify for their insured OR uninsured mortgages at a higher-than-posted rate. This is

RISING INTEREST (AND MORTGAGE) RATES: By now there’s a good chance you’ve heard that the Bank of Canada raised it’s interest rates by another 25 basis points on September 6th. The move marks the second hike since July this year, with the key lending rate now standing at 1%. Wasting no time, Canada’s five big banks followed suit, raising their prime lending rate to 3.2% up from 2.95% with more expected to do the same. If you have a variable rate mortgage, it’s likely you’re al

While Canada’s low mortgage rates began to creep up at the end of 2016, mortgagors have been happy to see them remain relatively unchanged since then. However, the March Mortgage Rate Forecast recently released by the BC Real Estate Association suggests that those days may be coming to an end. Citing a stronger Canadian economy and “a large degree of policy incoherence” in the United States, the report predicts an increase in mortgage rates throughout the second half of 2017.

As of October 17th, many Canadians won't be able to qualify for the mortgage they would be able to get today. Buyers looking to purchase properties under $1 million with less than 20% downpayment will now have to qualify at a much higher mortgage rate than many Vancouver home owners have become accustomed to - regardless of what mortgage rate the lender actually offers them. Specifically: "all insured homebuyers must qualify for mortgage insurance at an interest rate the grea