October 9, 2008
So the Bank of Canada lowers the overnight lending rate yesterday by 0.5 but mortgage rates for the 5 year fixed are still inching up and the variable rates are still not being discounted like they were a few weeks ago. To read more about the Bank of Canada's move read it from their website, straight from the source.
September 2008 MLS Stats
September saw 1811 more listings on the market than August 2008. Sales remained slow with only 17 more units sold in September over August.
August 2008 MLS Statistics
Listings in August were down from July and Sales were also down from July.
MLS Housing Price Index July 2008
Attached is the Housing Price Index for July 2008 which is provided by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
The chart shows up to date information on current median prices by area for attached, detached and apartment properties. The chart also shows the 1 year change, 3 year change and 5 year change.
August 8, 2008
If you are a first time buyer or investor, this summer is a good time to be looking at buying property. The inventory is actually very high quality and available inventory is competing on price to find the right buyer. At this moment in time the supply is high and demand is low. To see an up to date graph on Supply vs. Demand read the market forecast.
July 2008 MLS Stats Confirm Buyers Market
Similar to last month listing supplies are still up (although there was a small decline in active listings in July over June) and demand is still down. Click on the graph to the right to analyze supply vs. demand for July 2008 in comparison to July 2007.
July 26, 2008
Vancouver is getting press worldwide as a great place to live. Did you know that other cities have created a verb out of our city? Yes city planners are trying to Vancouverize their downtown cores and now we are an idealogy too – yes Vancouverism! Read about it on the website www.vancouverism.ca which features the travelling exhibit currently on display in London and then onto Paris.
July 15, 2008
The Bank of Canada announced today that the overnight target rate will stay at 3%. This means that prime will likely remain at 4.75%. They state the three factors affecting the economy are:
July 11, 2009
The Government announced on July 9 that they will no longer back new 40 year amortized mortgages or 100% financing. As of October 15, 2008, insured mortgages will require 35 year amortization or less, minimum of 5% down, a minimum credit score and new loan documentation. The new rules were put into effect to protect and strengthen Canada’s housing market as a result of the housing troubles in the United States. To read more visit: http://www.fin.gc.ca/news08/08-051e.html.
Market Shifting in Favour of Buyers
The market has shifted to more of a Buyer’s market than we have seen in years. One of the major factors contributing to the shift from a Seller’s to Buyer’s market is that Supply is up significantly over last year at the same time.
