Real Estate Blog News & Advice
Canadian Real Estate Doesn’t Have A Supply Problem. It’s A Demand Issue: BMO
Canadian real estate demand has never been this elevated before. That demand is the primary issue driving home prices higher, according to BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic. Rejecting the supply shortage narrative, he argues inventory levels are robust. Excessively low interest rates are just incentivizing too much demand. It will...
Thinking of renting a condo in Toronto? Get ready to pay a record $2,385 a month
Renting a condo in Toronto keeps getting more expensive. The average monthly rent for a condo in the city jumped 7.6 per cent in the third quarter from a year ago to a record high $2,385, according to Urbanation Inc. While the number of new condo rental leases signed grew...
Bank of Canada makes interest rate announcement
The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate target on hold as it pointed to a climate of broadening, important unknowns around trade. In explaining its decision to maintain its benchmark rate at 1.25 per cent, the central bank notes that recent trade policy developments are a key source...
Essential Tips for staging your home
Awesome tips for home staging! Let's face it, we live in the era of Pinterest and reality shows and although it may seem daunting to make your home look like one of wonderfully staged homes you see on Pinterest or on TV, we can tell you it's not as difficult...
Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1 per cent
The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 1/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 3/4 per cent. Inflation has picked up in recent months, as anticipated in the Bank’s July Monetary Policy Report (MPR),...
OSFI says stress test, other lending rule changes will start Jan 1
OSFI has published its update for the tightening of mortgage lending regulations known as Guideline B-20 and set the date that it will apply. The revised Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures will take effect from January 1, 2018 and include several key changes that the regulator says is part...
How to sell your home without a Realtor
Home ownership is one of the biggest investments most people ever make. When it’s time to sell your property, the standard practice is to find a real estate agent. After the sale, your agent and the buyer’s agent will share about 6% of the sale price as their commission, which...
Selling your home with no commission
Selling your home without a Realtor is not as difficult as you may think. The Toronto real estate market as an example is the best supported case, with many buyers and low inventory selling your home with zero percent commission can be achieved. Save thousands of dollars on the sale...
Quick Fixes for the Home
For most home owners trying to sell a home means the home should look tip top or at least present nicely to the new buyers. Here are some quick and easy fixes to get your home ready. Giving your floors some life. Upgrading flooring doesn't' have to be very expensive....
3 Reasons why your home is not selling
Once in a while there is a home that although in an active market, for some reason it won't sell, it basically just sits there. It doesn't mean you have bad luck, it means that the issue is right in front of you, before giving up, consider the following factors....
The year in review
As December real estate performance markets start to trickle in, we’re getting a sense of how some major markets performed in 2016. Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver each had their own compelling real estate stories in 2016. But how did they each perform last year? Vancouver Once the darling for real...
Kitchener-Waterloo housing market has unprecedented year
Sales of homes in the Kitchener-Waterloo region in 2016 were up by 1,000 compared to the previous year. The 18.1 per cent increase meant that 6,655 homes were sold through the MLS system of the Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors while the total dollar volume was up 30.9 per cent to...
First-time buyers delaying due to mortgage rules
The tightened mortgage rules introduced by the federal government last year are having a negative effect on the homebuying plans of first-time buyers. That’s the finding of a survey for the Ontario Real Estate Association by Ipsos Reid which says that 79 per cent of first-time buyers will delay buying...
CMHC reports annual pace of housing starts in Canada picks up in December
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the seasonally adjusted annual pace of housing starts in December came in at 207,041 units, up from 187,273 in November. The increase came as the rate of urban starts climbed 11.8 per cent to 187,621 for the final month of 2016. Multiple urban starts...