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
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
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
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
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland released the new 2022 Federal Budget in early April. Highlighting the Budget were several proposed measures to ease the troubles of housing access - particularly for first time home buyers, affordability, and foreign ownership. Freeland’s Budget proposes the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account (FHSA), which gives home buyers the ability to
