No "doom and gloom" in store for Canadian real estate – Royal LePage’s Soper

by Ephraim Vecina29 Jul 2020


Sustained market strength, subject to supply constraints, will be the predominant dynamic in the Canadian housing sector for the rest of the year, according to Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper and Sotheby’s Canada CEO Don Kottick.


In a joint interview with The Financial Post, the two executives highlighted the major role that housing inventory will play in the period immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic eases.

Soper said that home prices largely rely on the balance between supply and buyer activity.

“There are a lot of people who are looking to put roofs over their heads,” Soper said. “We just don’t see the number of homes for sale, the supply side of this, climbing to the point where home prices will collapse.”

Royal LePage’s latest predictions have placed annual growth by year-end at 2.5%.


https://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/news/no-doom-and-gloom-in-store-for-canadian-real-estate--royal-lepages-soper-331927.aspx

MORTGAGE RATE FORECAST......BCREA


As the year ends, it's worth reflecting on how significantly the Canadian interest rate environment has changed in just twelve months. One year ago, the Canadian yield curve was its usual upward sloping shape, with markets expecting gradual rate increases by the Bank of Canada. Based partly on those expectations, Canadian mortgage rates were climbing. However, within 8 months the yield curve in Canada had inverted, bond yields tumbled, and Canadian mortgage rates were once again heading lower.


https://www.bcrea.bc.ca/economics/mortgage-rate-forecast/


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B.C. Realtors' Group Criticizes Proposed Ban on Dual Agency

The B.C. Real Estate Association is pushing back against a proposed ban on the controversial practice of allowing realtors to represent both sellers and buyers of a property.

The proposed ban on dual agency — also known as double-ending — is the most significant change among a number of rules proposed Wednesday by the B.C. government’s Office of the Superintendent of Real Estate. The draft rule changes, meant to protect consumers and improve transparency in B.C.’s red-hot real estate market, have been provided to realtors and the public for comment over the next month.

Dual agency has been restricted or banned in some U.S. states, and Ontario has also proposed a ban on it.

In an interview on Thursday, the B.C. Real Estate Association’s CEO, Robert Laing, said realtors worry that banning dual agency will hurt both consumers and realtors.

“Our biggest concern is the consumer’s right to make a choice about who they work with is being taken away from them,” Laing said. “The superintendent is trying to protect the consumers, but we think he is forgetting that in a free-enterprise market the consumer needs choice.”

 

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/realtors-group-criticizes-proposed-ban-on-dual-agency 

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