Many people have asked where the Calgary real estate market is heading, which is a common question – now not having a crystal ball in my back pocket using data of the past can help with the outlook moving forward.
It is helpful here to state that the age old “past performance is not an indication of future performance” however history tends to repeat itself and real estate goes in cycles. The cycle has been shifted, compressed, and disrupted from the norms the last year due to COVID-19 for sure and what comes next is volatile to say the least.
This article was helpful to average out the stats for canada, here are some highlights
Prices Paid
- 31% of buyers were involved in a bidding war during their home purchase
- 66% believe that the bidding process should be more transparent and that all parties should be privy to the bids submitted
- 45% said if the bidding process was transparent, they’d be less inclined to use a real estate agent
- 32% of buyers incurred unexpected housing costs, including:
- moving expenses (32%)
- land transfer tax (25%)
- home inspections (24%)
- mortgage application fees (14%)
- mortgage-default insurance (13%)
Down payments
- 37% of respondents put down more than 20% of their home value
- Of those, 28% wanted to avoid paying mortgage default insurance
- 26% wanted to pay down their mortgage as fast as possible
- Of those who put down less than 20%, the top reasons were:
- lack of funds (47%)
- wanting to keep money for other expenses (33%)
- comfortable with their current debt obligations (15%)
- Top sources for down payments included:
- savings outside of an RRSP (38%)
- equity from a previous home (25%)
- RRSP savings (11%) – have rrps started to die?
- gift from a family member (8%)
- a new loan (5%)
- a HELOC (4%)
One shocker I was not expecting as a “industry investor” is that 61% of people went to their existing financial institution to get their financing. WOW! The banks may give you the best rates, but there are many more features of a mortgage which is a 5 year deal (in most cases) and a 25-30 year commitment with the bank and let’s face it the banks interest is in making the most money not giving the best deal to the client.
Use a mortgage broker, at least to get a second opinion – they can also explain why there is more to a mortgage than the interest rate: fees, portability, fixed VS variable, blended mortgages and more.
Original article here: https://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/2021/07/majority-of-canadian-buyers-borrowing-their-maximum-approved-mortgage/