On Thursday Sept 14, 2023, Justin Trudeau and the Federal Government announced a new tax policy repealing the Federal GST tax on new construction builds in a bid to encourage the construction of new rental buildings. Â Some welcome this move, claiming it will be a game changer. Critics remain sceptic, pointing out that it
2022 was a tough year for many Canadians faced with either purchasing a home while interest rates were rising or with renewing their current mortgage while rates nosed an upward trajectory. Prices of homes across the country during this time saw a significant dip – in some cities as much as -20%.  While the
Canada's inflation rate dropped to 2.8 per cent in June, the lowest level in over two years. This is good news for those who are worried about further interest rate hikes. Statistics Canada showed a brisk decline in gasoline prices compared with June 2022 which is the biggest reason for the drop. This brought Canada's official
The hot topic of the day is mortgage interest rates. While nothing things seems to be steady in this area, here is a brief recap of the latest happenings with regards to rates. Fixed mortgage rates: Fixed mortgage rates have been up and down since last July and for the most part have been sitting
After the slowing of real estate sales due to the unprecedented and unexpected rate increases seen last year, the market is starting to adjust and recover. April housing data showed an average price of homes at $716,000 – an increase of over $100,000 from January. For context, this is still 3.9 percent lower than the
For the 2nd time in a row, the Bank of Canada has held rates steady at 4.5%. The Bank has also indicated that it will be continuing its policy of quantitative easing. According to their Monetary Policy Report, the Bank expects the rate of inflation to drop to “around 3% in the middle of this
As widely expected, the Bank of Canada, in its most recent meeting, held interest rates steady for the first time in the past calendar year, pausing the sharpest increase in interest rates in a generation. Their move was not entirely unexpected as they indicated in their previous meeting that they were happy with the resulting
Buyers are sitting this one out as the downward trend of number of sales and prices continued to slide in January. Sales processed on the MLS for January 2023 numbered 626. One has to go back 10 years to January 2013, before finding a month with sales as sluggish so far this year. Sandra Benz,
Legislation regarding the ban on property purchases for foreign buyers was introduced into law last June. It was designed to mitigate the rising home prices in desirable areas and discourage foreign investors from buying prime real estate in major metropolises, as has happened within the last five years. The legislation is in effect for two
The hot sales and price trend that has been the hallmark of the Fraser Valley for the past five years continues to show signs of a cooling off period. November 2022 ended with sales down almost 7% from October 2022 and new listings slowing by 20% in that same time. While the overall number of
