Real Estate

Real estate tech companies continue to get hammered by high mortgage rates

18/09/2023

Welcome back to The Interchange, where we take a look at the hottest fintech news of the previous week. This week, we take a look at one startup layoff, another offering an employee ownership buyout option, and much more. If you want to receive The Interchange directly in your inbox every Sunday, head here to sign up!

From a $2B+ valuation to round after round of layoffs

Last week, I reported on Divvy Homes’ third round of layoffs in a year’s time. It was the latest casualty in a beaten down real estate tech sector.

I first wrote about rent-to-own startup Divvy Homes in September 2019 when it announced a $43 million Series B round to help in its mission to help more Americans “move from renters to [home]owners.” I then covered the company’s $110 million Series C in February of 2021.

Of course, at that time, it was

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Real Estate

High interest rates slow Sarnia-area home sales in August

12/09/2023

There were 116 real estate sales locally last month, the fewest in August for the last decade, according to the board’s monthly statistics.

Published Sep 11, 2023  •  3 minute read

A for sale sign is shown outside a house on Sarnia’s Graham Coughtry Court. Photo by Paul Morden /The Observer

The Sarnia-area’s real estate market felt the impact of high interest rates in August, says the president of the Sarnia-Lambton Real Estate Board.

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There were 116 real estate sales locally last month, the fewest in August for the last decade, according to the board’s monthly statistics.

A slowdown was typical during August before the pandemic, “but obviously for the last two or three years, nothing has been typical,” said board president Rob Longo.

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Real Estate

Ottawa’s vacancy rates at all-time-high: Canadian real estate news for September 2

06/09/2023
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Here are The Globe and Mail’s top housing and real estate stories this week, with the lowest mortgage rates available in Canada today, commentary from our mortgage expert and one home worth a look.

Take The Globe’s business and investing news quiz

Vacancy rates in downtown Ottawa hit all-time high as public service employees continue to work from home

Ottawa’s downtown core is seeing record-high vacancy rates, and real estate insiders say the federal government’s work-from-home policy is the culprit, reports Adam Stanley. The federal government is Ottawa’s largest employer, with more than 113,000 people working in the city, but many of them are still working remotely. In an effort to revitalize the downtown area, commercial real estate veterans are calling for the government to require its employees to return to the office.

Major mortgage insurer cuts back on disclosing information about homeowners with underwater

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Real Estate

Stanislaus County real estate prices climb despite rising mortgage rates. Here’s why

18/05/2023

The Central Valley housing market seems to be finding its new normal, as median home sale prices have bounced back by 8.3% in Stanislaus County since the start of the year.

TrendVision reports from April show a changed market since last summer when the Federal Reserve began aggressively raising key interest rates to fight ongoing inflation. Those increases have more than doubled the mortgage rate from around 3% through much of 2020 and 2021 to now about 6.2%.

But rates have dropped from their peak last September of about 7.1%. While the higher rates and subsequent higher monthly payments have priced some potential buyers out of the market, PMZ Real Estate broker Daniel Del Real said the demand remains high.

“Buyers want to buy not on face value, but on monthly payments. That caused the process to slow down and a pull back at the end of last year. But

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Real Estate

Canadian Real Estate Affordability Got Worse With Higher Rates, What Gives?

11/03/2023

Canadian real estate prices are falling with higher mortgage rates, but has it made it easier to buy? Bank of Canada (BoC) data for December’s new uninsured mortgage loans shows the highest rates in well over a decade. Interest costs are rising faster than prices are falling, meaning worse affordability. The hiccup is due to the speed at which rates increased, and affordability is expected to improve in the coming months.

Canadian Mortgage Rates Have Surged To The Highest Level In Over A Decade

Mortgage rates are on the climb, which isn’t news to anyone in Canada. It’s the speed they climbed that’s remarkable. Average interest on a new mortgage jumped 0.24 points to 5.53% in December. It was 3.53 points higher than a year before, more than doubling the record low recently experienced. Canada hasn’t seen a mortgage rate this high since the Great Recession. 

Canadian Mortgage Rates Have

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