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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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