The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) released its Housing Forecast Update for the first quarter of 2010 today. BC Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) residential sales are forecast to increase 6 per cent from 85,028 units in 2009 to 90,100 units this year, before declining 3 per cent to 87,500 units in 2011. Higher home prices and rising mortgage interest rates will provide a constraint on home sales next year. “BC MLS® residential sales sprinted from an annualized rate of 5 ... Full Article...

The Bank of Canada announced today that it is leaving its key interest rate unchanged.  In its announcement, the Bank states that “conditional on the outlook for inflation, the target overnight rate can be expected to remain at its current level until the end of the second quarter of 2010.”  The Bank also forecasts that the Canadian economy will grow by 2.9 per cent in 2010 and 3.5 per cent in 2011, after contracting by 2.5 per cent in 2009. Pricing for loans that are typically link ... Full Article...

After beginning the year at near record low sales levels, buyers’ confidence in the Greater Vancouver housing market quickly returned, allowing for significant and sustained increases in the number of residential property sales for much of 2009. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that total unit sales of detached, attached and apartment properties in 2009 reached 35,669, a 44.8 per cent increase from the 24,626 unit sales recorded in 2008, but a 6.3 per cent decli ... Full Article...