Real Estate News

Adding Value to a Home Through Affordable Renovations The majority of Canadian homeowners are planning to stay in their current homes in the next year. As a result, many are turning towards remodeling and renovation to add value to their properties. It’s no secret that many Canadians are being priced out of buying a home in the city that they want to live in. Increased cost of living paired with inflation rates have dramatically raised the bar, especially for younger Canadians, to enter the housing market for the first time. As a result, we’re seeing a significant portion of the population choosing instead to remodel or renovate their current home, with the goal of adding value to their property for eventual sale down the road. Recent data from Angus Reid in partnership with Financeit found that a quarter (25 per cent) of Canadians are planning to undertake home renovations in the next year, and 21 per cent stating they’d be completing renovations to increase the value of their…

Buying unaffordable homes As Parliamentarians returned to the House of Commons yesterday, the first thing on the agenda was changes to the mortgage policy aimed at making housing easier to afford.  Driving the news: Canadians will no longer need to come up with a 20% down payment to get a mortgage on a home worth more than $1 million, as the government moves to raise the cap on insured mortgages in an effort to boost construction and impress young voters.  First-time homebuyers will also be eligible for mortgages spanning 30 years, up from a maximum of 25 years, which can slightly increase affordability in the short term.  What they’re saying: Generally, homebuyers should aim to put more than the minimum amount down to help lower interest costs and boost equity in their homes, according to Clay Jarvis, a NerdWallet real estate expert. “This new rule flies in the face of that logic,” he says. Why it matters: Housing affordability and the cost of living are key issues…

3 Interest Rate Cuts in a Row! How Your REALTOR® Is There to Help Three interest rate announcements, three cuts in a row. The Bank of Canada has once again announced it is cutting the key interest rate to 4.25%—news Canadian home buyers and owners will certainly welcome. Canada’s central bank made the announcement Wednesday, Sept. 4, stating its key interest rate would decrease 25 basis points—making it the third time since June the Bank has made such a move. Shaun Cathcart, Senior Economist with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), said experts are now expecting rate cuts at every remaining Bank of Canada decision this year, with momentum carrying into next year. “Combine that with a record amount of demand waiting in the wings, and the forecast for a rekindling of Canadian housing activity going into 2025 has just gone from a layup to a slam dunk,” Cathcart said in CREA’s Housing Market Report. Are you prepared for what may happen next? Do you know all the ins and…

Courtesy: National Association of REALTORS® Remodeled kitchens help sell houses faster and for higher prices, but what can be done when the kitchen, the heart of the house, shows its age? Key Takeaways: To compensate for a dated kitchen, there are different strategies you can take: Adjust the price downward to reflect work that needs to be undertaken Have sellers make cosmetic changes to help it look fresher Compete with up-to-date kitchens by helping buyers envision a major overhaul Updated, functional kitchens that mirror the best on reality TV shows and hip Instagram posts help listings sell. They’re also among the top interior projects to recover cost at resale, according to the 2022 Remodeling Impact Report by the National Association of REALTORS®. (Download the full report pdf; a new version is expected next year.) With competition for listings coming from new construction in many areas, sellers who don’t heed this lesson run the risk of seeing their listing sidelined, says…