July 12 2017

Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News Update

In today’s news  the psychological impact of the 16 point plan, high rise living for families, the power of now, sushi, mortgage bundles, and high water.

They did it

For seven years the Bank of Canada hasn’t hiked its mortgage-market-influencing overnight rate — until today.

Psychological impact

The effect of the 16 point plan has been mostly psychological says Finance Minister Charles Sousa. He dismissed concerns that the Ontario economy is too dependent on housing, “demand is high, but fundamentals are strong with exports growing and low unemployment”.

High rise living for families

A study on how new housing with more than 20 units can better accommodate the needs of households with children suggests 15% of a new building’s units include two bedrooms, and 10% include three bedrooms. It’s best to place these larger units near each other and on lower floors, with adjoining outdoor spaces.

The power of now

The foreign buyers’ tax was introduced in Vancouver last year in August. Then the market for condos really slowed down up until the end of the year. It picked back up in February. The condo market is doing quite well there again. So if we follow a similar path here, we will have some slow months then pick up again. Right now could be a good time for buyers.

Something fishy in Vancouver

There are more than 600 sushi restaurants in metro Vancouver. Nearly every city block is populated with sushi restaurants, making raw fish often as easy to find as a cup of coffee, which is also very easy to find in Vancouver.

Bundles banned in mortgage market

Canada plans to ban some bundled residential mortgages to clamp down on risky lending, six months after a Reuters investigation revealed that regulated mortgage providers were teaming up with unregulated rivals to circumvent rules limiting how much they can lend against a property.

Heck, high water

Despite efforts to provide relief by releasing record-high outflows, recent wet conditions continue to sustain high water levels, causing continued severe impacts to Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River property owners, recreational boaters, businesses and tourism. Lake Erie also remains well above average, and combined with significant rainfall during the past month, the total inflow to Lake Ontario was the 2nd highest recorded in the month of June since 1900.

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