British Columbia Archives - Synergy Mortgage

29Sep

Pent-up demand, falling prices fuel first monthly housing sales increase in Vancouver in 18 months

[Globe and Mail - August 2, 2019] Pent-up demand helped drive Greater Vancouver housing sales higher last month as buyers on the sidelines took advantage of slumping prices. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said on Friday there were 2,557 sales in July for various housing types in the region, up 23.5 per cent from the same month in 2018. It marked the first time monthly sales have increased year over year since January, 2018. Greater Vancouver’s residential benchmark price slipped [...]

British Columbia, Vancouver Real Estate

27Jul

Mortgage Stress Test Gets A Little Easier As BoC Lowers Rate

[July 19, 2019 - Huffpost] The Bank of Canada's posted mortgage rate is used in the stress test that many say has cooled Canada's housing markets. OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada has lowered the rate used by mortgage stress tests to determine whether would-be homeowners can qualify, marking the first drop in three years. The central bank’s five-year benchmark qualifying rate is now 5.14 per cent, down from 5.34 per cent. It’s the first decrease in the five-year fixed mortgage rate since September [...]

Bank of Canada announcements, British Columbia, Canada

21Jun

Pre-sale condo buyers back out of contracts as market slows in Lower Mainland

[CBC - June 20, 2019] "Real estate lawyer says contracts are nearly iron-clad once buildings near completion" When the market was hot, people lined up overnight to get their hands on pre-sale condominiums. Now that the housing market in B.C.'s Lower Mainland has cooled, some buyers are trying to back out of their contracts — unable to obtain the financing they need. A Vancouver lawyer says clients are coming to him several times a week hoping he can help find loopholes to get out of [...]

British Columbia, Vancouver Real Estate

30Mar

B.C. Real Estate Association forecasts lower mortgage rates in 2019

[Source: Georgia Straight - March 28, 2019] That's according to the latest mortgage rate forecast from the B.C. Real Estate Association. The cost of borrowing for a home is predicted to get a little cheaper this year. "The average contract rate for 5-year mortgages has declined about 30 basis points from its peak in 2018, reaching 3.44 per cent in March," the BCREA states in a two-page report. "Unfortunately, this still means a stress test rate of 5.44 per cent, even for [...]

British Columbia, Canada, Economic Outlook

10Feb

Uneasy Year of the Pig arrives for China – dependant BC companies

[BIV - February 4, 2019] Chinese New Year dawns on a jittery business landscape as Huawei dispute casts uncertainty over access to overseas markets. Not only is Chinese New Year one of the local community’s most celebrated holidays, it is also typically the time for B.C. businesses – especially those with ties to the Chinese market – to celebrate a year of gains while looking optimistically at the potential of more in the coming year. 2019, however, is not a typical year. [...]

British Columbia, Canada, Economic Outlook

01Sep

Waiting to see if declines in real estate sales translate into falling prices

[Source: CBC News - August 14, 2018] The Canadian real estate industry is used to disregarding gloomy predictions. But now, after a decade of laughing in the face of repeated false warnings that a housing slump was imminent, most Canadians affected by real estate — in other words, just about all of us — have suddenly become a little more wary. No one disputes the meteoric rise in Canadian house prices has come to an end. The latest figures from both Vancouver and [...]

British Columbia, Canada, Economic Outlook

01Sep

B.C. casinos claim revenue down because of new anti-money laundering rules

[Source: Vancouver Sun - August 30, 2018] B.C.’s new anti-money laundering rules have negatively affected revenues at the River Rock and Parq casinos. According to financial results released in August, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation saw a fall in B.C. revenues in the first six months of 2018 due in part to declines in money earned at gaming tables at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. The company said that was primarily attributable to a new requirement requiring casinos to complete disclosures [...]

British Columbia, International Influence

01Sep

B.C. Realtors still not allowed to openly publish home sale prices

Photo: John Barbisan, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board: home sellers have a right to privacy. [Source: Vancouver Courier - August 30, 2018] Toronto real estate agents ordered to release data to general public, while it remains restricted to real estate professionals in B.C. Last week, for the first time in Canada, the general public could see exactly what any home sold for through the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), but that information is not permitted to be published by [...]

British Columbia, Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Vancouver Real Estate

04Jun

Vancouver Real Estate: Single-Family Homes On Verge Of Price Correction, Realty Board Warns

The city is seeing a surge in supply [Source: HuffPost - June 4, 2018] VANCOUVER — Home sales across Metro Vancouver tumbled last month, when compared with May 2017, and the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says that raises the potential of lower prices for some types of homes. The board says 2,833 properties sold in its region in May, a 35.1 per cent plunge from sales recorded in the same time last year, although May's sales were up nearly 10 [...]

British Columbia, Vancouver Real Estate

02Jun

These are the trends to look for in Vancouver’s housing market this summer

[Source: BuzzBuzzNews - May 23, 2018] As the weather warms up, industry experts agree that home sales and prices will continue cooling in Metro Vancouver as the market adjusts to stricter mortgage regulations and new BC housing policies. “It’s a lot for the market to adjust to and it could take a little bit longer for the market to adjust to those measures,” RBC Senior Economist Robert Hogue tells BuzzBuzzNews. Since February, year-over-year home sales have been declining in Metro Vancouver. In [...]

British Columbia, Economic Outlook, Vancouver Real Estate