It is hard to believe January is already over. Is it my age, or is everyone feeling the time is going by faster?
As the market is slower everywhere it is important to reach out to Buyers. Buyers have the impression not to buy or do the wait and see approach… sitting on the fence.
Is this a good time to buy real estate? I often get this asked. The answer is Yes!
Rate-sensitive markets like real estate have fallen over 20% depending on the individual market due interest rates increases and inflation. But this is still an excellent opportunity for investors and new home buyers to take advantage of much lower real estate prices despite the current higher mortgage rates. It’s worth noting that despite much higher rates with lower purchase values, the monthly payments in many cases are very similar. Either you pay top dollars in a high market, 100,000+ more with a lower interest rate, or purchase a property much lower, with higher interest rates.
Example:
Taking the average Canadian sold price, a buyer today would save almost $160,000 on the down payment despite having a higher monthly payment of $257.
With a short-term rate strategy, this buyer can lock in a 1-2 year fixed rate to ride out the current rate cycle and then be in a position to renew/refinance at future lower rates.
Whereas waiting until rates come down, we could see real estate values return to growth, which would mean higher down payment requirements and more competition.
