[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″]Market Update
The past month has found me a tad too busy writing mortgages to be writing Blog posts. That said I look forward to laying down some mathematics and opinions again soon.
For now I provide some Market data.
Highlights from the April MLS Stats;
343 sold of the 410 available detached homes in the Lower Mainland priced from $1,000,000 – $1,250,000
An 84% rate of sale is amazingly strong.
A few markets were at 100% on significant volume as well;
- 61 of 61 in Burnaby
- 83 of 83 in Vancouver East
- 50 of 50 in North Vancouver
100% sold!
Port Moody saw only 30 detached homes hit the market below $1,000.000 and 26 (87%) of them sold.
Ladner was a standout in the Condo (23/24) and Detached (33/36) market with ~93% of all listings sold
Pitt Meadows saw similar performance in the detached house market with 32 of 40 listings sold by month end.
Rates of the day?
The trend of low rates staying low appears to be with us for some time to come.
- 1yr 2.84
- 2yr 2.09
- 3yr 2.24
- 4yr 2.49
- 5yr 2.59
- Variable P-.70 or a net rate of 2.15%
Amazing times to be selling in certain markets at certain price points!
Painful times to be a buyer in nearly all markets at most price points.
Best Luck this month should you be in either camp!
First Time Buyers
On April 2cnd CMHC announced an increase in their mortgage insurance premiums for homebuyers placing less than 10% down. The premium increase will raise the cost of mortgage insurance by ~$450,00 per $100,000 of mortgage balance effective June 1, 2015.
A more meaningful metric is that this translates into a net cost of just ~$5.00 per month for the average CDN homebuyer submitting their purchase transaction for financing June 1, 2015 and beyond.
There is no ability to avoid this premium with a Pre-Approval. The older lower premium will only be applicable to purchase transactions submitted for approval by the end of May, 2015.
For a more detailed example, click here.
First National Market Commentary
Amid all the analysis and reaction to the federal and Ontario budgets there is an interesting survey by one of the big banks that did not get the attention it deserves.
The online poll of some 2,000 people over the age of 17 suggests family – “The Bank of Mom & Dad” – is playing an ever increasing role in home purchases as buyers, increasingly, turn to non-traditional sources of funding.
Of particular interest: it is not first time buyers who are looking for the most help from family.
The survey indicates “upsizers” are looking for family to cover 20% of the cost of their new purchase while first-time buyers are looking for just 12%. That’s about $95,000 for upsizers versus $37,500 for first-timers. It is also worth noting that first-time buyers have reduced their budgets from $316K last year to $313K in this year’s survey.
The survey indicates the average price for a home in Canada is $316K.
At the same time the number of first-time buyers expecting help from family has risen by 12% to 42%. Coincidentally, 42% of upsizers are also expecting family help.
Get ready for another crazy month!
***For those who read to the bottom of this, and are data hounds, type ‘snap stats’ in the header of this email and hit reply. I will forward you some very detailed market data.
Thank You!
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