New research shows that the bank of mom and dad or other family support is more important than ever for Canadians getting into the housing market. The research comes from Zolo, a national real estate marketplace, which goes as far as to say borrowing from family is “becoming mandatory” to enter the market. Zolo’s insights are […]

Tip of the Week The price is right, but the home needs a little TLC. That’s what Purchase Plus Improvements is for! An appraisal outlining the current “as is” value and the “improved” value may be required. This often means a detailed list of improvements, including copies of the contracts outlining the scope of work […]

A new report from Zolo showcases how significantly home buying has changed for Canadians in recent years. From 2020 through 2021, home prices broke records nationwide, with high consumer demand and a low inventory of homes for sale. However, in 2022, that trend started to reverse, leading to real estate markets that look dramatically different. A recent […]

US Policymakers Take Emergency Action To Protect Depositors At Failed Banks Silicon Valley Bank (SVP) had a sterling reputation among the many tech start-ups it helped to finance. What brought SVB down was an old-fashioned bank run set off in 2021 by a series of bad decisions. That year, the stock market boomed, interest rates […]

Homebuying among Canadians is a vastly different affair – and more often than not, a family one – from what it was two to three years ago, new data reveals, with half of Canadian buyers admitting that financial support from their families played a critical role in their home-purchasing process. From 2020 to 2021, extreme […]

THE BANK OF CANADA HOLDS RATES STEADY EVEN AS THE FED PROMISES TO PUSH HIGHER As expected, the central bank held the overnight rate at 4.5%, ending, for now, the eight consecutive rate increases over the past year. The Bank is also continuing its policy of quantitative tightening. This is the first pause among major central […]

For the first time since the pandemic’s start, Canadians are experiencing a shift in the real estate market they’ve come to know. There were record-setting sales across the country in 2020 and 2021, with extreme demand from buyers and a low supply of homes for sale. In turn, we saw Canada’s housing market and home prices across […]

With this new announcement, the Bank of Canada has decided not to increase prime interest rates. We expect this pause to continue in the attempt to curb the high inflation rates and further moves will be data-dependent. Prime rate still remains at 6.70% for most banks, with some fixed-rate mortgages having come down off of the peak […]

The Bank of Canada was the first major central bank to hit the pause button on rate hikes in late January. Given the slowdown in inflation in the recently released January CPI, The Bank of Canada will refrain from hiking interest rates this month.  That is welcome news for homeowners with adjustable-rate mortgages whose rate […]

Within the last year, BC’s housing market has undergone numerous changes and adjustments. The image above compares some key figures from a year ago to now. This can be crucial for one looking to buy their first home and what they can expect regarding rates, payments, and what direction the trend in the market is […]