If you’re waiting for the housing market in Kitchener Waterloo to crash, I’ve got some bad news for you, it’s not going to happen. It may be wishful thinking and you may be getting poor information in the gloom and doom media – bad news sells more newspapers than good news. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is forecasting moderate slowdown in both new home construction as well as resale homes.
It is important to keep in mind as well, this is a national estimate. What happens in Vancouver and Halifax has very different influences and impact to what happens in Kitchener Waterloo. Having said that, trends are alway worth keeping an eye on.
Our governing bodies have been pulling the levers and pushing the buttons expertly, hoping to prevent a bubble and more importantly hoping to prevent the popping of that bubble. And it looks like its all working. We will, I predict, get a soft landing. In fact we are approaching the landing strip now. I’m not feeling any turbulence. Times to sell a home in our local housing market have stretched, having a nice house at the right price is ever more important, bidding wars have dried up and the market is reaching equilibrium. The price of homes in Kitchener Waterloo are growing at around 1% now, down from about 6% a couple of years ago.
When I hear people procrastinating about buying a home, throwing up arguments like “I think prices are going to drop” or “I think the problems at RIM are going to hurt the local real estate market” and even “The Chinese economy is going to crash and take the world economy with it”, when I hear these arguments I think they are just fear and procrastinations. Eventually big decisions have to be made. I like to make them quickly if only to get them out of the way.
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If you’re thinking of buying a home, please contact me.
A real estate agent telling their clients everything is okay and to buy now. What a surprise! It’s like a drug dealer telling an addict to buy. The market is insanely overpricing places right now. If you want to be a mortgage slave for 25 years, go right ahead, listen to Keith.
The TD Bank today said prices are going to remain at the same level (or rise marginally with inflation) over the next ten years.
If you want to wait to buy a house, wait. If you want to pay rent, pay rent. Prices are not going to crash. If you’re waiting for that, you’re fooling yourself.
As for being a mortgage slave, BMO last week dropped the five year fixed to 2.99% and mortgage brokers are lower than that (2.89%). The rates remain historically low.