With the buying frenzy from last year now over buyers are contemplating whether or not to buy a home with the higher interest rates, higher payments and lower prices. Last year was the opposite of where we are today so you need to take the time and see if it actually makes sense to
With the rise in interest rates this year it has become more difficult to qualify for a mortgage as the stress test rates for mortgages are now over 7%. Given this we have seen an increase in clients using B lenders to qualify for mortgages. There are a few differences between A lenders (banks
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association’s (CREA) newest statistics, August has seen a softening of sales for the 6th month in a row across the country. Although the MLS Home Price Index dipped down 1.6% since July 2022, it is still elevated 7.1% compared with August 2021. August’s slow down was the smallest of
Real estate in the Fraser Valley has once again seen sales, and subsequently prices, fall for the fourth straight month. In the government’s effort to hamper inflation’s rapid growth and the harm it would bring to the real estate market they have continued to raise the prime rate. On the other hand, fixed rates
The Bank of Canada raised its overnight lending rate yesterday by 1% in what looks like a big effort to try and get ahead of inflation. All of the major banks and lenders in turn followed by increasing their prime rates by 1% as well. For most borrowers on a variable rate mortgage this means
There seems to be lots of uncertainty lately in regards to interest rates and we are getting a lot of questions on where things are headed. Here is a brief summary of both fixed and variable rates to help you make an educated decision based on your own personal situation. First of all, it must
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board issues a monthly statistics paper that gives an overview and dissects real estate activity throughout the Lower Mainland. This includes a summary of MLS activity for the Fraser Valley area in addition to monthly and yearly correlations. A recent analysis of the Fraser Valley market reveals sales have dropped
In a recent study done by the Bank of Canada, evidence shows that fewer and fewer first time buyers are entering the market. The Bank of Canada’s study showed that first time home buyers made up 47% of home sales in June 2021, down from 53% in 2015. While there is no single answer
I hope you are all doing well and everyone is ready for the upcoming holiday season. It has been a challenging year for buyers with a limited supply of housing to buy along with a lot of competing buyers. We are still seeing many pockets of the market across the country where buyers are forced
Fraser Valley real estate prices continued to rise this fall as the number of buyers continued to outpace the number of sellers. Although the reported 3.9% more sales in October than September, home sales decreased a staggering 18.2% year over year for the month of October. However, the catalyst behind the yearly decrease in listings
