As if property in Vancouver didn’t cost enough, now realty firm Royal LePage is predicting that real estate prices in the Metro Vancouver area will rise by 7.2 per cent in 2010. With the average 2009 price of a home in Vancouver sitting at $592,000 that’s not exactly small change.
Obviously, what happens will depend upon how much mortgage rates increase in mid-2010, when the Bank of Canada has stated that the key overnight lending rate is likely to rise.
At this point, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) predicts that Canadian mortgage rates will potentially rise by less than a percentage point this year, which should still be manageable for most home buyers.