Under ask
Though the market has tightened up in recent months, we’re still in a period where buyers are either in no big rush or they are but remain constrained in their bidding by high rates. That...
Category: Statistics
The not-so runaway strata fees
Many people are worried about strata fees when they buy into a condo development. In recent years that’s been about the rise in insurance premiums, but even outside of that there is concern that strata...
No rapid rate relief
That rapid hike in central bank rates after low variables lured more borrowers to those products has put a lot of stress on owners. Instead of facing higher payments, many variable borrowers have taken longer...
February: Market tightens up due to low new listings
February numbers are in, and though sales were nothing to write home about, the market nevertheless tightened up substantially due to a mid-month dropoff in new listings. After tracking the year ago numbers quite closely...
The cost of peace and quiet
A few months ago I did a deep dive into the impact of the newly unenforceable rental rules, showing that rental restrictions led to substantially lower values in condos. I also briefly looked at the...
Mind the gap
There’s a lot of uncertainty about how prices will develop this year. On the one hand we still have higher interest rates than we’ve seen in the past few years and poor affordability is usually...
All bunched up
Last week I mentioned that we’ve seen more houses available under the one million dollar mark as prices have declined over the past 10 months. Crossing below that threshold drops down payment requirements and opens...
January: Anecdotes and data tell different stories
It was an interesting if confusing month in the world of real estate. The twittersphere was dominated by positive anecdotes in multiple markets, with stories of multiple offers and an increase in buyer and mortgage...
Rental market remains extremely tight
A brief update as we wait for January to close out tomorrow. Unlike the wealth of data we have about the real estate market, rental data is extremely limited in Canada. The only reliable source...
Changing rates and the market
The central bank is likely getting ready to hike again on Wednesday, with consensus expectations of a 0.25% increase in the overnight rate. However unlike previous rate hikes that directly increased both the lowest available...