Calgary Real Estate

It’s still a buyers’ market in the Calgary Real Estate Market! While CREB says that it is stabilizing. It hasn’t fallen as far in Q3 as it had in Q2 2018, but sales continued to decline in September. Could this be the new normal in Calgary? According to this article, that’s the prediction.

Big news this month for consumers: sold data will soon be available on realtor.ca! While I don’t believe having access to sold data takes the place of using a licensed Realtor®, as a buyer or seller, I’m a firm believer in transparency. Data is useful but if you don’t know what the numbers mean, or how to compare apples to oranges, which most consumers don’t, data doesn’t take the place of an experienced Realtor®. This information isn’t available yet, but we expect to see this change in the coming months.

Calgary Property Taxes

Ever wondered how we line up in terms of property taxes provincially? I know that a lot of homeowners think our property taxes are extremely high, but that’s actually not the case. This read will enlighten you with stats from around the province. Calgary property taxes are quite moderate compared with other municipalities in Alberta, even those larger municipalities like Edmonton. Check out the infographic!

Interest Rate Forecast

Finally, interest rates. They’ve been on the rise as the bond market strengthens. Will this trend continue and do we expect an increase in the Bank of Canada (BoC) key lending rate when they meet next week? The answer is yes.

Strong US economic growth continues to cause similar inflationary pressures here at home. The Canadian economy is so tightly tied to the US economy that what we see there often translates into similar trends here at home.

The question now is will that trend continue? There are signs that the US economy might be operating at, or above, its full capacity. While in the short term, this is why we expect rate hikes from both the US Fed and the BoC. Over the medium and longer term, if these hikes create the downward pressure on inflation, then we can expect rates to moderate and decrease again.

Even with Prime increases on the horizon, I don’t think it’s time for variable rate holders to panic and lock in just yet.

If you are currently in a variable, and are considering locking in, give me a call!