Buy Sell Love Durham

Connection, Empathy and Change in Real Estate

Category: Interest

  • Canadian Money at the beginning of Lindsay Smith's (Buy Sell Love Durham) weekly blog.

    How Low Can Mortgage Rates Go?

    Another month, another Bank of Canada rate drop. Unless you missed it, the rates were cut by ¼% last week. This followed a rate reduction last month, adding to a drop of ½%. The impact of these two rate cuts will reduce a $100,000 variable rate mortgage by $28/month. This may not seem like a…

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  • Picture illustrating a graph that shows a trend up

    Year End Durham Region Report Card

    The end of the year is coming at us fast, and along with the report cards our kids will be excited to show us (or will hide in their backpacks,) we also have a report card for how Real Estate has reacted to the uncertainty of our economy and rate hikes. On a positive note,…

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  • Canadian and US flag used to illustrate a comparison for a featured blog post.

    Mortgage Mix-Up. Canada vs. United States

    I have learned quite a bit about American mortgages living with a woman who sold Real Estate in Arizona for over a decade. We have chatted at length about the differences between mortgages here in Canada and those south of the border. One of the structural differences is that mortgages south of the border are…

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  • Featured blog post image of a newsletter with the business section highlighted to support Lindsay Smith's regular blog posting about newspaper headlines and real estate.

    Deconstructing Shocking Real Estate Headlines

    Have things really changed over the past 6 months? Here is a “shocking” headline from the Toronto Star, “New report predicts that Canadian home prices could drop by 30%- or more.” This is a juicy, sensational newsflash. When people see headlines like this, they tend to fall into several camps. My favourite reply is “looks…

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  • Buy Sell Love Durham blog image for Lindsay Smith's regular market analysis

    Musings of a Durham Region Mortgage Broker

    I had lunch with the mortgage broker I have known for years this past Friday understanding that when people think of business lunches, visions of swanky restaurants, multiple martinis and expense accounts are easy to conjure up. Alas, when you are self-employed, these lunches tend to be all about business and packed with loads of…

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  • Buy Sell Love Durham blog picture about deja-vu. Two black cats

    Durham Region Real Estate Deja-Vu

    Here is my recollection of the timeline we saw with Real Estate sales over the past few years. In 2017 we saw a drop in values after our Provincial Government implemented a foreign buyer tax. The reaction to the market was swift and brutal. From April until July 2017, values plummeted 25% in Oshawa alone.…

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  • Buy Sell Love Durham, featured blog about variable rate mortgages and the current state of real estate. Image shows a piggy bank.

    When Variable Rate Mortgages are as Popular as Kale in Salad

    My variable rate mortgage has increased so high I am having difficulties managing the payment.Are you here… meaning, are you dealing with a variable rate mortgage where your payment has skyrocketed? If you have a $400,000 variable rate mortgage, a year ago the rate would have been about 1.45%. The monthly payment is around $1,987. This for…

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  • Buy Sell Love Durham featured blog image of a red pencil crayon writing the word stress

    Raising Rates are like Grounding a Teenager

    The average prices are in for July and guess what? The values dropped. Here is what they looked like for detached homes in June over July: Oshawa – June/22 $886,000 July /22 $816,000 (-$70,000)Whitby – June/22 $1,123,000 July/22 $1,097,000 (-$26,000)Clarington – June/22 $999,500 July/22 $909,000 (-$90,500) This should surprise no one who has been following…

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  • Buy Sell Love Durham featured blog image, Canadian money

    What does July, 2022 and 2008 have in common?

    It’s not the average price of a home in Oshawa, Whitby or Clarington. In 2008 the average detached home averaged $283,000. Currently, the average is $993,000. It’s not the price of a litre of gas. In 2008 a litre of gas was about .78 cents and currently, it is floating around $1.80. No, it’s mortgage…

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  • Buy Sell Love Durham blog featured image, Opportunity Knocks

    Changing Interest Rates: An opportunity for Real Estate in Durham Region

    The mortgage rates have jumped up over the past month by more than ½%. How is this change affecting the market?The easy way to look at it is to see how much the costs of carrying a mortgage have increased. Another approach when you lean into the question a bit deeper that might surprise you…

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