THE BLOG.

We are getting close to the finishing line for 2020. What an extraordinary year that has been, full of challenges across the globe. Luckily there is light at the end of the tunnel and we can look forward to moving towards a more normal life next year.

For most of us, I think this is the lowest five-year fixed mortgage rate that we have ever seen.

It is real, and we will absolutely recommend it should your qualification works based on our lender's criteria.

The best part is that the offer comes with many bells and whistles that are likely more than you need.

As we are one month into fall, the real estate market in Vancouver continues to show its resilience to the unprecedent economic and health challenges we are facing. Most experts believe the market is being driven by the historically low mortgage interest rates, pent-up demand from the early days of the lockdown and an increasing desire for suburban living from young families and singles after living through the pandemic in a condensed urban setting.

Our lender understands that these are times of uncertainty, and our customers might be stressed and hesitant to make purchases right now… They’d like to help!

Introducing our new “Interest-Free for Three” promotion provided you by one of our lenders, who will pay the interest for our customers for three months (for a total of 90 days) on new mortgage applications.

Bank of Canada (BoC) announced on last Wednesday that it would continue to hold its target for the overnight rate at 0.25% to help households and businesses recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic. It is interesting to note that the new BoC Governor, Tiff Macklem has given great certainty in when to increase the rate via a very specific measure.

As we all know the COVID 19 health crisis is unprecedented in our life time and the cost in human lives has been devastating around the world. The financial cost has also been extreme and left millions of Canadians struggling to cope financially as non-essential businesses are forced to close. Managing your finances prudently during this uncertain time is more important than it has ever been and ...

During this extraordinary time, we are continuing to witness fixed mortgage rates going down quickly and consistently after the sudden spikes at the beginning of the lockdown. They are moving very close to the historic lows we have seen in recent years. This is a great time for you to renegotiate or lock your mortgage rate.

We are excited to announce that we are moving to a new office in the RE/MAX Crest Realty brokerage located at 1428 W 7th Avenue between Granville Street and Hemlock Street. We will be attending the new office as soon as government guidelines allow us to do so and in the interim our business remains fully operational as we all work from home.

With the recent significant drop in Prime Rate and the anticipation of more rate cuts to follow by Bank of Canada (BoC), this could be a good time to consider a deeply discounted variable rate term which will likely be off the market in the next few days. For now, we still have a lender offer at 0.9% off the Prime Rate for insured mortgages or conventional mortgages up to 65% of the purchase price.

We are writing to share an update on how we are addressing COVID-19 in our office. Following guidance from public health authorities, we have decided to temporarily close our retail office location effective Tuesday, March 17th until further notice as we monitor the situation. However, our work continues and we will be fully accessible to you via email , phone, fax, FaceTime, Skype and WeChat.

With the rapidly evolving COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, Bank of Canada (BoC) took the unprecedented measures of cutting the overnight rate twice down to 0.75% in a matter of less than ten days and the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) also dropped the benchmark rate on Sunday to near zero percent as an emergency move.

Finally, Bank of Canada cut its overnight rate by 0.5% this morning. We are likely to see a wave of rate drops of all fixed rate terms in the coming days. However, currently deeply discounted variable rate products may not remain in the market place for very long before they all disappear.

I wish everyone a healthy and prosperous year ahead. On the economic front there is positive news regarding Canadian economy to kick of the new year. The reduced trade tension globally is helping but the expansive wild fire in Australia and tensions between Iran and USA are concerns.

We summarized some common questions from our clients regarding financing an investment home .

1. Can i get mortgage financing for an investment property if i do not own my principal home?

On the economic front, recent data indicates a relatively stable economy in Canada but with minimal growth. Many experts believe the central bank needs to cut its short-term rate in December to stimulate business activity and help improve Canadian goods’ competitiveness in the global market.

Some of our clients have acquired secondary homes recently to take advantage of discounted home prices during the recent slowdown of the market. This allows them to optimize the future capital appreciation and other benefits while enjoying the convenience a second home provides.