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Options available when you don’t have the full downpayment!

Raising a down payment can be the trickiest part of buying in Vancouver's hot market – but some programs may help, say mortgage experts Jorge and Alisa Aragon Q: I really want to put in an offer on a condo, but I haven’t raised the full down payment amount yet? Do ...

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Government adds new qualifying requirements for uninsured mortgages

  Effective January 1, 2018, first-time home buyers who don’t require mortgage insurance — those with a down payment of 20 per cent or more — must qualify for their mortgage at a higher rate. This new stress test won’t apply to people renewing their uninsured mortgage. Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of ...

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Average cost of a condo in Metro Vancouver:

Greater Vancouver’s real estate market is being propped up by its condo sales, as the average price of detached homes drops, according to Royal LePage’s Q3 House Price Survey. The real estate group’s survey found the median cost of a detached home in the region is down by 1.1.%, in comparison to ...

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News Release: Home buyer demand continues to differ based on housing type

Apartment and townhome activity is outpacing the detached home market across Metro Vancouver. This activity helped push total residential sales above the historical average in September. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in the region totalled 2,821 in September 2017, a 25.2 per cent ...

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The RE/MAX Collection 2017 Spotlight on Luxury is out!

Sales of homes priced over $1 million were up year-over-year in Victoria, Calgary, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Oakville while the luxury market in Vancouver cooled during the first seven months of 2017. Sales of $1 million-plus single-family detached homes declined 32 per cent in Vancouver year-over-year to start 2017. ...

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How to Use Home Equity to Unlock Tax Deductions

Unlike our American neighbours to the south, Canadians can't take a mortgage interest deduction on their taxes. However, there is a scenario where the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) allows taxpayers to mimic the effect of deducting mortgage interest. Fraser Smith, a now-retired financial strategist in Victoria, BC, created the Smith Manoeuvre ...

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Here’s what Vancouver looked like in 1964 (video)!

A video posted to YouTube recently shows what Vancouver looked like in 1964. The fascinating home footage was posted by YouTube user Mark Holtze, who says in the description that it was captured in 1964 by his Great Grandfather Marcel Holtze during a train trip from Toronto to Vancouver. The first half of ...

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Average rental cost for one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver is more than $2,000 now!

The average rental price of a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver has gone up yet again in what some might call the least surprising piece of news this week. The cost of a one-bedroom rental in Vancouver in August was $2,020, up 1.5 per cent from the previous month, according to the ...

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What’s the Average Value of a New Mortgage in Vancouver?

With Greater Vancouver home prices increasing exponentially each year and now at record highs, there is a widespread – and understandable – assumption that most buyers must be taking out huge mortgages to afford real estate in the region. However, the average value of a new mortgage loan in the Vancouver ...

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Big banks hike prime rates after Bank of Canada tightens monetary policy

n the wake of the Bank of Canada's move Wednesday to boost a key interest rate, Canada's big banks have boosted their prime rates. RBC was first off the mark, followed quickly by the others, raising their prime rates to 3.2 per cent from 2.95 per cent, where they had been since the central ...

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