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January 14, 2010
2009: Year of the real estate rebound December housing sales were hot in Greater Vancouver TRICIA LESLIE A slow start turned into an extremely strong finish for the residential real estate markets in Metro Vancouver. “In 12 months, we went from the worst January in 20 years to the third-best December,” says Fraser Valley Real Estate Board president Paul Penner. “Homebuyers took Boxing Day shopping to new levels with some Fraser Valley realtors, showing multiple homes per day between Christmas and New Year’s.” The FVREB represents Metro Vancouver regions including Surrey, North Delta, White Rock and Langley. In all regions, Penner says the word that reflects Paul Penner the real estate story of 2009 best is “recovery.” December alone showed a 148 per cent increase in sales over the same month in 2008, and that can be attributed to firsttime homebuyers taking advantage of all-time low mortgage interest rates and increasing confidence in the economy, says Penner. “An informal poll of our members in December revealed 40 per cent of home sales were by first-time buyers, when it would normally be 25 per cent.” The overall trend for 2009 was one of increasing sales, decreasing inventory and rebounding prices, the FVREB reports. The board’s listing services processed 16,721 sales in 2009, compared to 13,194 CONTINUED ON P.2
Mortgage rates: 2010 outlook Experts predict a modest hike may happen in late 2010 MAGGIE CALLOWAY The questions preying on British Columbians’ minds as 2010 kicks off are varied, but many are likely wondering if mortgage interest rates will go up or down this year, and whether house prices will increase or decrease. Finding an iron-clad answer can be dif-
TD Financial business development manager Ross Gurney predicts mortgage interest rates will remain stable through the first half of 2010. Rob Newell photo
ficult, but the experts seem to agree interest rates will remain fairly stable. “We see the mortgage interest rate to remain stable through the first half of this year and a gradual increase of around one per cent through the last half,” says TD Financial Group business development manager Ross Gurney. “In 2008, mortgage interest rates were down, lumber prices at historic lows and we had a house inventory problem. All this contributed to a very hot market,” he says. “We had an interesting 2009, but in relation to the rest of the world, we really don’t
have much to complain about.” The websites of most major Canadian financial institutions predict more of the same: no one sees much upward movement in interest rates through the first six months of 2010, and no major jumps for the balance of the year. According to the Canadian Mortgage Trends website, several analysts think the Bank of Canada will wait until the latter part of 2010 – or later – to adjust rates. While a CIBC Economics posting predicts CONTINUED ON P.2