Mortgage wars heat up Vancouver’s already hot real estate market! A lowering of a popular financing option for home buyers could cause more harm than good for at least one Vancouver couple. “Why couldn’t [interest rates] just go up to where they were before, and we would probably be able to find a place?” asks Melanie Lee. She and her husband are looking to buy their first home, but have fo ...

by  Canadian Press - BC Local News posted Mar 18, 2015 at 2:21 PM— updated Mar 19, 2015 at 3:44 AM No plan to cool hot housing market: Harper Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces a government initiative to help assist small and medium-sized businesses to open new markets abroad, in Mississauga, Ont. on Wednesday, March 18 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young — Image Credi ...

The IMF has recently issued another warning about Canada’s high housing prices and the levels of consumer debt, and has urged the Canadian Government to introduce more tightening to mortgage lending.  The upcoming Federal election may save us from the Government acting too quickly, but don’t hold your breath.  If the price trends in Vancouver and Toronto continue, I suspect they will act now ...

Bank of Canada keeps rates on hold  The Bank of Canada announced on March 4th, 2015 it was keeping its trend-setting overnight lending rate at 0.75 per cent. Six weeks earlier, the Bank surprised markets by cutting the rate by a quarter of a percentage point as insurance against economic damage from the drop in oil prices. In its March announcement, the Bank was upbeat ab ...

(Surrey, BC) – In February, sales of all property types in the Fraser Valley increased by 21 per cent in one year with demand for two property types in particular - single family detached homes and townhomes - outpacing supply. Last month, the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board processed 1,337 sales on the Multiple Listing Service® compared to 1,102 sales in February of last year. New listings ...