Housing taxation affecting cost of homes
Posted on Oct 07, 2024
The BC Real Estate Association announced it is calling for major housing tax reform aimed at increasing affordability and fairness in the province.
The following is from the BCREA news release:
BCREA noted that BC housing taxation levels are some of the highest in the world and have risen sharply since 2016. This has had a significant negative effect...
The Fed’s decision and the time for market to turn
Posted on Sep 18, 2024
In the September edition of News From Nexus, this was the prediction from Dale Clark, President of Nexus Realty:
“If the Fed [the central banking equivalent in the United States] drops its rate by half a point, the real estate market will begin to turn. People with money will start to come off the sidelines. The time will have come.”
The time came th...
Real estate tidbits of news from elsewhere in the world
Posted on Sep 11, 2024
In Great Britain, swimming ponds — not swimming pools — have become status symbols. They are natural pools, or garden water features that create a “wild swimming experience.”
And wealthy buyers are snapping them up quickly.
According to a story at bloomberg.com, the swimming ponds are natural enough for frogs and schools of fish, and safe enough from...
Something to remember when buying that home
Posted on Sep 06, 2024
Now that more homes are likely to be sold, as the real estate market conditions improve, it’s important that buyers make sure to pay attention to something that can be easy to overlook:
Home inspections.
Easy to overlook? You’re looking for a new home. You find it. It’s the perfect house. Home inspection? Well, what if something surfaces about your...
Almost all mortgage holders 'in good standing'
Posted on Aug 25, 2024
The countdown is on for the next Bank of Canada interest-rate announcement after Labour Day. For homeowners, it’s most important for first-time buyers trying to get into the market…and trying to qualify for a mortgage.
However, it may also apply to existing mortgages that are coming up for renewal because, as it stands now, the homeowners holding th...
Canada, the U.S. and falling interest rates
Posted on Aug 16, 2024
Greater interest rate sensitivity in Canada means that economic growth this year is likely to once again underperform relative to the U.S. We have pencilled in real GDP growth of 1.2% for Canada and 2.6% for the U.S. Below-trend growth in Canada should make the BoC confident that it has inflation under control. The Fed, however, does not have this...