News Release: January 3, 2013 FRASER VALLEY REAL ESTATE SALES AT LOWER LEVELS IN 2012 (Surrey, BC) – Fraser Valley’s real estate market in 2012 will be remembered as the year buyers and sellers took a breather reflecting quieter sales, an average number of new listings and prices overall remaining flat. The president of Fraser […]

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) complex in Ottawa. About 70 per cent of mortgages in Canada are insured and the government provides a 100 per cent guarantee of mortgages insured by CMHC. Globe and Mail Private sector should take on CMHC’s role FINN POSCHMANN Published Thursday, Jan. 03, 2013 06:55PM EST Last updated […]

Psst. Here’s the ugly truthBy            CMP            |            02/01/2013 8:00:00 AM            |                 0                comments Shall CMP break it to your BFS clients or should you? The ugly truth about B20 is that self-employed borrowers may actually have to report their full income. The new OSFI lending guidelines, demanding an unprecedented level of scrutiny with regards […]

Canada’s housing market: a victim of demographics ROB CARRICK  The Globe and Mail Demographic trends built up our housing market, and now they’re going to start pulling it apart. Prepare yourselves, buyers and sellers. The years ahead for housing will look nothing like the last decade. A report issued by Pacifica Partners Capital Management in […]

Borrowers reminded of flexibility amid fixed-rate feverBy            Nestor Arellano            |            12/12/2012 4:35:00 PM            |                 0                comments Outgoing Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney may be delighted that consumers are heeding his warnings and have been flocking to fixed-rate mortgages in record number, but one broker is advising borrowers to pick shorter term mortgages because […]

By            Nestor Arellano        “In the current context, a specific concern is that the total number of housing units under construction has been increasing and is now well above its historical average relative to the population,” according to the bank’s Financial Systems Review – December 2012 report. “If the upcoming supply units are not absorbed by […]

News Release: December 4, 2012 HOME SALES DECREASE IN THE FRASER VALLEY; THOSE BUYING LOOKING FOR AFFORDABILITY (Surrey, BC) – Property sales through the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) decreased by 19 per cent in November compared to the same month last year, moving from 1,120 to 905. Sales also decreased […]

Flaherty ‘happy’ about slowing marketBy            Vernon Clement Jones            |            04/12/2012 6:00:00 PM            |                 2                comments Jim Flaherty’s reaction to a cooling real estate market may be the polar opposite of most brokers, with the finance head suggesting he’s “happy” about the slowdown. “Less demand, lower prices, modestly, in the housing market are much better […]

Bank of Canada Interest Rate Announcement – October 23, 2012 The Bank of Canada once again opted to hold its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent this morning. Interest rates have been held constant for over two years, the longest such period since the 1950s.  The Bank somewhat tempered its bias for […]

News Release: October 2, 2012 BUYERS TAKE ‘WAIT AND SEE’ APPROACH FOR SINGLE FAMILY HOMES; CONDOS HOLDING THEIR OWN (Surrey, BC) – For the second month in a row, property sales on the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) have decreased to historically low levels. In September, a total of 857 sales […]