September 2018 - Synergy Mortgage

25Sep

Canadian borrowers will feel this week’s U.S. interest rate hike

[CBC News - September 24, 2018] The world's biggest central bank is expected to raise rates this week — and then keep raising them. With two eyes on the future, U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is expected to raise interest rates this week — and then keep raising them to keep inflation under control. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) Markets are so certain that U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will raise rates this week that a failure to hike would likely have worse consequences for [...]

Canada, Economic Outlook, International Influence

01Sep

The Home Front: How postal codes can reflect our design preferences

[Source: Vancouver Sun - August 11, 2018] Kendall Ansell, of Kendall Ansell Interiors, says design preferences in the suburbs differ from downtown Vancouver. Where you live doesn’t always reflect who you are, but there’s a good chance there’s some consistent interior design trends happening in your neighbourhood, says Kendall Ansell, of Kendall Angell Interiors, who recently expanded her Vancouver Burnaby practice to include an office in Surrey. “We’ve made more of a commitment to going to the South Surrey, Surrey, White Rock [...]

Home Design + Decor

01Sep

Waiting to see if declines in real estate sales translate into falling prices

[Source: CBC News - August 14, 2018] The Canadian real estate industry is used to disregarding gloomy predictions. But now, after a decade of laughing in the face of repeated false warnings that a housing slump was imminent, most Canadians affected by real estate — in other words, just about all of us — have suddenly become a little more wary. No one disputes the meteoric rise in Canadian house prices has come to an end. The latest figures from both Vancouver and [...]

British Columbia, Canada, Economic Outlook

01Sep

B.C. casinos claim revenue down because of new anti-money laundering rules

[Source: Vancouver Sun - August 30, 2018] B.C.’s new anti-money laundering rules have negatively affected revenues at the River Rock and Parq casinos. According to financial results released in August, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation saw a fall in B.C. revenues in the first six months of 2018 due in part to declines in money earned at gaming tables at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. The company said that was primarily attributable to a new requirement requiring casinos to complete disclosures [...]

British Columbia, International Influence

01Sep

B.C. Realtors still not allowed to openly publish home sale prices

Photo: John Barbisan, president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board: home sellers have a right to privacy. [Source: Vancouver Courier - August 30, 2018] Toronto real estate agents ordered to release data to general public, while it remains restricted to real estate professionals in B.C. Last week, for the first time in Canada, the general public could see exactly what any home sold for through the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), but that information is not permitted to be published by [...]

British Columbia, Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Vancouver Real Estate

01Sep

Baby boomers are back in the housing market – and it will impact prices: Royal LePage

[Source: Global News - August 8th, 2018] More than 1.4 million Canadians between the ages of 54 and 72 expect to buy a house in the next five years, according to a new survey by real estate powerhouse Royal LePage. Boomers will be either downsizing to smaller properties in their hometowns or looking for greener — and cheaper — pastures away from big cities, the research shows. Either way, this is “expected to have a meaningful impact on the housing market,” the [...]

Canada, Vancouver Real Estate