The Bank of Canada announced today that it is keeping its benchmark rate unchanged despite a weaker economy in the fourth quarter of last year and expectations that growth in the near term will be weaker. Should the recent slowdown in growth be more persistent than forecast, we may see a rate cut. In…
A global luxury property firm has predicted that homes in Canada worth $1 million and above will see their prices grow by around 4% in 2020, largely due to sustained demand and last year’s housing market robustness. In its newly released “Canadian Year-End Luxury Real Estate Report,” Engel & Völkers noted that the combination of…
The average sale price last year for residential properties across the city was $486,600. Ottawa’s housing market appears trapped in a troublesome cycle. Fewer than 1,800 residential homes and condominiums were listed for sale at the end of December, according to data published Monday by the Ottawa Real Estate Board. While this suggests reasonable…
Launching earlier this week, the federal government’s new home buyers program aims to help nearly 100,000 Canadians achieve their home ownership dreams while helping with the monthly payments. The programs offer a 5% down payment amount for default insured mortgages, 10% for new construction, as a no interest second mortgage. There are some prominent conditions…
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,731 residential properties in August through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 1,581 in August 2018, an increase of 9.5 per cent. August’s sales included 1,300 in the residential-property class, up 9.7 per cent from a year ago, and 431 in the condominium-property category, an…
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,005 residential properties in February, compared with 978 in February 2018, an increase of 2.8 per cent. February’s sales included 756 in the residential property class, a rise of 3.8 per cent from a year ago, and 249 in the condominium property class, a decrease of 0.4…
You could be forgiven if you’ve paid no mind to Ottawa’s real estate market as the action in Toronto and Vancouver has stolen the headlines. But those in the know are already seeing Canada’s capital as a market to watch in 2018 and beyond. Bank of Montreal Senior Economist Robert Kavcic wrote the Ottawa real…
A significant divide has opened up in Ottawa’s housing market, as the city’s economic centre of gravity shifts to the west. The split has been growing for months but rarely has it been as clear as it was in August. While the benchmark price for single family homes climbed 6.6 per cent year over year…
As you and your family enjoy the last days of summer, you might already be anticipating the cold weather that is coming. Many people become so busy with the onset of the school year, or life in general, that cooler air arrives before they are ready for it. That’s why it makes sense to start…
Today marks a rare moment for many of my variable-rate borrowers because the Bank of Canada hasn’t raised its overnight rate in more than seven years, which means there are many among this group who have never experienced a rate rise (this is the part where the older generations shake their heads). Well, after years…