Home sales remain weaker than usual in the Metro Vancouver with June posting its lowest total since 2000. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says that sales in the month lagged the 10-year average by 34.7% with 2,077 total sales. That’s 14.4% below June 2018 and 21.3% below the total sales in May 2019. […]

Anew federal program designed to help middle class families get on the housing ladder is being introduced while the previously announced Shared Equity Mortgage Provider Fund will launch next month. The federal government has announced that the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive will reduce monthly mortgage payments for first-time buyers without increasing their down payment. The […]

If you are thinking about purchasing a home in the near future, here are some reasons you may consider buying a condo apartment or town home. You should also be aware there are some cons as well. Pros They are relatively inexpensive. As your footprint is small and you share exterior walls with others, the […]

There was a slight rise in home sales in Metro Vancouver last month. May 2019 figures from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver show 2,638 sales were recorded through the MLS, the first time more than 2,000 sales have been recorded this year and a 44.2% jump from April’s total. But sales were still […]

The moderation of Canada’s housing market means reduced revenue for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Its quarterly financial report for the first three months of 2019 reflects the reduced size of the insured mortgage market as home sales continue to lag the highs of recent year following several policy changes introduced in 2018. In […]

In the run up to this week’s rate setting by the Bank of Canada, talk of a coming rate cut is creeping into the forecast. A recent Reuters poll of 40 economists put the chances of a cut, within the next 12 months, at 40%.  However, the same poll but the chances of a cut, […]

The Canadian credit market has grown but it appears that consumers are generally managing their debt well. The mortgage market continues to record a slower pace of growth although performance remain generally good. TransUnion’s Industry Insights Report for the first quarter of 2019 shows that the number of consumers with access to credit grew 1.3% […]

The Bank of Canada released its review of the financial system Thursday and warned that it was important to remain vigilant to the risk of household indebtedness. The bank said that while the mortgage stress test and interest rate hikes have slowed household borrowing and improved credit quality, there are still high levels of indebtedness […]

A new program the federal government has announced to subsidize first-time homebuyers isn’t likely to help the market but more likely to harm it. And not only is it not going to help out the market, but it’s not going to help out new homeowners. In its recently announced budget, the government is essentially putting […]

Busy lives and the changing trends in how we get around is driving greater demand for homes close to good transit links. In a new survey released Tuesday, 28% of ‘modern family’ homeowners in major Canadian metros said that transit-friendliness is one of their top 3 homebuying criteria. Sotheby’s International Realty Canada and Mustel Group’s […]