December 2016 - Synergy Mortgage

07Dec

How not to slaughter your personal finances this holiday season

[Source: The Globe and Mail, December 7, 2016] For reasons I’ll discuss in an upcoming column, I see 2017 as an expensive year for Canadian households. One way to prepare is to go easy on your spending this holiday season. This edition of the newsletter is devoted to the idea of combining fun and frugal. First off, we should acknowledge that Canadians are world leaders in binge shopping in December. Next, let’s agree that a present for your spouse is probably [...]

British Columbia, Canada, Vancouver Real Estate

Bank of Canada sees stronger global growth, keeps rates steady

[Source: The Globe and Mail, December 7, 2016] The Bank of Canada is keeping its key overnight rate at 0.5 per cent, pointing to a stronger global economy coupled with continued uncertainty regarding international trends. Donald Trump’s election win in the United States has created expectations in financial markets that Republicans in Washington will inject new fiscal stimulus into a U.S. economy that is near full capacity, a development the bank says has pushed Canadian bond yields “significantly” higher. The bank says [...]

British Columbia, Canada

Vancouverites learning to love life with less living space

[Source: The Globe and Mail, November 11, 2016] Young families aren’t leaving Vancouver. People aren’t in despair because they can’t buy a house with a yard. They’re learning to adapt to and even love an urban life in which they have less space but more connections with their neighbourhood. And it’s not this region’s tightly constrained geography or the sole effect of foreign capital washing in that makes housing so expensive. Instead, it’s policy decisions that reserve so much of the available [...]

Vancouver Real Estate