[Synergy Mortgage - May 6, 2020] The spring market is an active time for home buying and selling but this year it will be quieter. This is due to the safety measures taken to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. If you are planing to make a move this spring, it is possible, however please consider the following information. The BC Government declared real estate an essential service on March 26, 2020. But it is far from business as usual. [...]
[Globe and Mail - April 16, 2020] Fixed mortgage rates are creeping lower this week, as the funding markets that banks and other mortgage lenders use to raise money for loans have begun to normalize after weeks of outsized volatility. Toronto-Dominion Bank brought its five-year fixed rate down to 3.09 per cent from 3.24 per cent this week, and several other major lenders including Royal Bank of Canada and MCAP have also reduced their rates. Five-year fixed-rate mortgages ranged between 2.39 [...]
[CTV - April 16, 2020] TORONTO -- While real estate support has been declared an essential service in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic, some agents are making sure to keep their physical distance by offering virtual tours of homes. Buying a home is one of the largest purchases most people will ever make and so it is difficult to find the perfect house without seeing it in person first hand. Michael Collins, president of the Toronto Real Estate Board, told CTV News [...]
[Georgia Straight - April 16, 2020] An RBC economist expects a possible summer resurgence of the real estate market in Canada. In a housing update, Robert Hogue of RBC Economics described the ravages being done by the COVID-19 pandemic on the residential property market as a “temporary shock”. “We expect stronger activity to resume once social distancing orders are relaxed though there’s great uncertainty as to when this will happen,” Hogue wrote. “Our baseline assumption is sometime in June,” Hogue continued in his [...]
[CMHC - March 24, 2020] The COVID-19, or coronavirus crisis has left many homeowners in Canada without a job or with reduced hours and wondering how to pay their mortgage. Homeowners facing financial stress may be eligible for a mortgage payment deferral up to 6 months to help ease the financial burden. The COVID-19 Mortgage Payment Deferral program will be ongoing. You can apply at any time during this outbreak. What is mortgage payment deferral? Mortgage payment deferrals can help you during times [...]
Invis - April 15, 2020 It is no surprise the Bank of Canada held firm on its overnight rate of .25% (1/4 percent) and did not venture into negative interest rates that have been tried notably in Europe and Japan with no evidence that negative rates improved GDP outcomes. Generally, economists agree there will not be much of an effect from lower interest rates on new borrowing, because few firms and households will want to borrow to fund investment or [...]
[CTV - April 3, 2020] VANCOUVER -- Some major Canadian banks are cutting credit card interest for clients that are facing financial hardship because of COVID-19. In a release on Friday, RBC said it will be by cutting interest by 50 per cent for small business and personal clients who are already deferring minimum payments on their credit cards. Starting on April 6, clients who qualify will be able to take advantage of the change. In order to be considered, clients will have [...]
[Money Sense - March 25, 2020] From cooling down sales to changing how available homes are shown, this global pandemic will change Canadian real estate in the short- and long-term. To say the events of the past few months have had an unprecedented impact on how our society functions would be an understatement. As the threat of the COVID-19 global pandemic grows across Canada and all levels of government enact policies to stop community spread via social isolation, millions of Canadians [...]
[Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver - March 26, 2020] The provincial government announced on March 26 that real estate agents are considered an essential service in BC, alongside measures to centralize our healthcare response, ban the secondary resale of essential goods, and secure supply lines for British Columbians. Other real estate-related essential services include: Land registration services Construction work Professional services, including lawyers and accountants Insurance services Building code enforcers and inspectors What does it mean to be an essential service? Being an [...]
[Synergy Mortgage - March 24, 2020] We hope all of our valued clients are doing well and staying safe during these unprecedented times. We are OPEN FOR BUSINESS as we are able to work remotely online via phone and email, as are our lenders. Appraisers have shifted their practices and are now able to perform appraisals without physically viewing the inside of a property. Lawyers and notaries continue to meet in person with clients in a safe manner, as they are [...]
