Here’s a selection of the news I’ve collected in the last little while. It either gets tagged in my RSS reader or in my Delicious bookmarks.
Bank of Canada drops prime another 50 basis points
BofC did what we expected and cut prime by half a percent. It was nice to see the banks follow suit very quickly afterwards. Things are just about as cheap as they get. I’ll call the bank to see about dropping the payments on my mortgages, but I’m not going to push much beyond this. I’m also starting to watch the bond rate, as that’s what will drive fixed mortgage rates. Really, I’m a big fan of the five-by-five rule. Five year fixed below five percent, and you’ll be just fine. That said, the rates have been so low for variable mortgages lately you’d have done awesome with a variable. It’s just starting to be time to think about locking in. CMT does point out that they’ve left the door open for another cut, so we’ll wait and see before making the call to lock in.
Brits Migrate to Canada
Danielle Millar pointed out an article about the large numbers of British folks migrating to Canada. I work with one of them, and he’s got three friends on the way. Even with a global recession, we still need skilled workers.
“Canada welcomed 8,128 British immigrants last year, up 25 per cent over the previous year and making Britain the sixth-biggest source of immigrants to Canada.” Read More
Springtime? Calgary’s Showing Strength
Radley and Jared both posted good articles about the inventory levels in Cow-Town, and the impact that’s having on the market. I think it’s the premature strength Don talked about in January. (It’s the little peak in the middle of the W) It’s still good to see some reality going on though.
There’s REIN This Weekend!
The tag line is:
Where Will BC Real Estate
BOOM And Where Will It CRASH?!?
I can’t be there, but if you’re willing to make the trip to Vancouver (Coquitlam actually), the ACRES weekend (formerly Quickstart) is a good time. I’ve been to several, and I learn something new every time. It’s the best real estate investment education on the planet.
