interest - Appartement de Ville

15/05/2024

Buyers wait for interest rate cuts, listings up in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows

Many home buyers are waiting on the sidelines until interest rates come down.

That was the finding of a recent survey by BMO, which says 72 per cent of aspiring homeowners are holding out until interest rates drop before purchasing a home.

It says they are concerned about the cost of living, inflation, and their overall financial situation.

The survey came after The Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged in April – but left the possibility open for a rate cut by June or July.

Locally, that has meant a slowdown in sales of properties priced at $1.5 million or higher, according to local Realtor Steve Hamilton.

“That part of the market has been put on hold,” he said.

He said some locals faced with renewing their mortgages at higher rates are downsizing, or moving to other B.C. cities with lower housing costs, “or to Calgary.”

“A lot of

…

17/04/2024

How will the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision impact real estate?

Real estate experts say many potential homebuyers are waiting for rate cuts before entering the real estate market following the Bank of Canada’s latest decision to hold rates, but demand remains high for some properties.

Victor Tran, mortgage and real estate expert at Ratesdotca, said in a statement to BNNBloomberg.ca Wednesday that the housing market “continues to be in a holding pattern” characterized by tight supply and “stiff competition for desirable properties.”

“While some consumers are willing to take on higher interest rates now to avoid the expected frothy market when rates drop, others are tired of waiting for rate drops and are losing faith that rates will decline as far and as fast as previously predicted and are stepping back from the search,” Tran said.

Tran’s comments come after the Bank of Canada elected to hold its policy rate at five per cent on Wednesday for the sixth consecutive

…

03/04/202403/04/2024

Real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran predicts interest rate cut could create a surge in home prices

If you’re thinking of buying a home, there’s no day like today to make the move, says real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran.

The rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage declined slightly to 6.79% last week, well below October’s peak of 7.79%, according to Freddie Mac. For homebuyers, the prospect of waiting for lower borrowing costs might seem awfully enticing.

But Corcoran, Shark Tank star and founder of the Corcoran Group, begs to differ.

In a conversation on Yahoo Finance Live (video above), Corcoran cautioned that lower rates could bring more buyers into the market, boosting competition and sending already lofty prices “through the roof.”

“If interest rates come down another point by year-end, everybody and their mother and their in-laws are going to look for a new house, and the competition’s gonna be so fierce that house prices will have to go up,” Corcoran said.

Read more: Mortgage rates

…

28/03/202428/03/2024

Interest rate cuts could soon diminish real estate investment opportunities in Ontario

Published March 22, 2024 at 5:47 pm

Real estate investment opportunities across the GTA and Ontario, such as the purchase of a new condo, could diminish soon due to interest rate cuts.

The Bank of Canada has indicated that it will cut its overnight lending rate three to five times this year. It’s a certainty that condominium prices will start increasing immediately after the first announcement, says Diane Bertolin, partner at Alliance United Corporation, a developer with over 30 years of collective experience.

The central bank’s rate cuts will likely begin in June. If five cuts do indeed occur, that will most likely bring its overnight lending rate to 3.75 per cent — which also means that condo prices could start increasing as early as July, making now the ideal time to purchase a condominium.

“There’s an inverse relationship between interest rates and condo

…

27/01/202427/01/2024

CONDO REPORT: Interest rates created challenge for sellers

Demand still relatively low and inventory high heading into new year, creating some good opportunities for buyers, says columnist

The 2023 condominium market was challenging for sellers in Barrie.

The market slowed down quite a bit after interest rates increased by two per cent over the last half of 2022 and into January 2023.

With such a large increase in the cost of borrowing, many buyers could no longer afford to purchase real estate and chose to put their property search on hold until the market reacted and prices came down.

The first half of 2023 was more active than the second half, where the Barrie condo market experienced waves of interest from buyers. Some weeks were extremely slow with very little action on listings while other weeks had an increase in appointments and offers on properties.

Most of the active buyers were those who were already locked into an

…