Luxury and value live together at Avra, a new Epta Properties highrise in the popular seaside community of White Rock. ›› p.4
October 7, 2010
More stability in local real estate market
TD Financial Group’s Ross Gurney says choosing a mortgage depends on the homeowner, and what the market is like when the mortgage is being taken. Martin Knowles photo
Mortgages: best way to pay Fixed or variable? Open or closed? Experts say it depends on what each homeowner wants MAGGIE CALLOWAY Looking for a perfect starter home? Mortgage deadline looming? No matter what the situation, homeowners are always faced with a dilemma when think-
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ing about what kind of mortgage to get. Are interest rates going to go up, go down, or stay the same? Lock into a fixed mortgage, get a lower rate with a variable, half-and-half, creditline mortgage, open or closed, and what about the term? There can be many questions and confusion about what kind of mortgage is the best for each homeowner. But it can be hard to make a decision without all the facts. Nobody knows which way interest rates
will go. Those involved in the industry can make educated guesses, but if a homeowner is going to be paying a mortgage for the next 25 to 30 years, there will likely be plenty of peaks and valleys in the economy during that timeframe, which will usually impact interest rates. An open mortgage, which usually carries a slightly higher interest rate, allows homeowners to pay off all or part of their CONTINUED ON P.2
September home sales in the Metro Vancouver area rose by 0.8 per cent compared to August 2010, reports the Real Estate Board of Vancouver. While those numbers – 2,220 residential sales – represent a 37.6 per cent decline compared to September 2009, they are a 40.1 per cent increase over the 1,585 residential sales in September 2008, yet still less than sales in September of 2007 and September 2006. “We’ve seen fewer properties come onto the market over the past three months,” says REBGV Jake Moldowan president Jake Moldowan. “This trend, combined with the continued attraction of low interest rates, is likely having the effect of less downward pressure on home prices.” Since spring, housing prices in the region have trended slightly downward, with a decrease of 2.7 per cent compared to the alltime high reached in April, when the MLS (the industry’s listing service) residential benchmark price was $593,419, the REBGV reports. The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, which represents real estate professionals in Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford and Mission, also saw a month-overmonth increase in sales in September. A total of 1,044 sales were processed on the FVREB’s MLS in September, an increase of five per cent compared to 997 sales in August, but a decrease compared to the 1,590 home sales in September 2009. “Our sales, while lower than a typical September, are up compared to the summer and the average days to sale for single-detached homes decreased slightly compared to August,” says FVREB president Deanna Horn. Although inventory is down compared to May, “it remains a buyer’s market with a healthy selection, near-record low interest rates and stable prices.”
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