Bank of Canada drops rate .75%!

Economic crisis, turmoil, political upheaval... we thought you could use a little good real estate related market news!

In a further attempt to get the economy moving, the Bank of Canada announced a .75% decrease to their overnight rate this morning, the lowest since 1958. This usually translates to an immediate move by the banks to match the decrease but recent rate cuts took longer for the banks to follow suit by decreasing their prime lending rate. So hopefully in a fews days we will see the full benefit of the decrease.

Here are some additional positive items for you...

The drop in value of the Canadian dollar offers up a 20% advantage to American buyers as we approach  the Olympics in 2010. Three billion people are expected to watch the Olympics on TV across the globe.

    * The International Monetary Fund predicts Canada will lead the way in G7 growth in 2009.
    * Canada has 18 domestic banks, the US has 8,000.
    * BC's employment rate is over 95%.
    * Average home prices in BC were $250,000 in 2002 and $453,000 in 2008, a mere 81% increase!
           (Which helps puts a decrease in the markets into perspective!)
    * Of all the Canadian provinces, BC is the least dependent on the US market.
    * BC has the lowest provincial tax rate of any Canadian province.
    * BC still has inward migration of over 20,000 people per year.
    * A Royal Bank Canada study shows more than 20% of all Canadians plan to purchase a home in the next two years which is unchanged from a year ago.
    * Black Friday retail sales increased from last year by 6% in the US.
    * BC retail were sales increased by 1% in September.

Please remember that with even with this good news you should be aware of the potential for prices to reduce over the short term for real estate in BC, so if you are thinking at all about refinancing your home, or investing in revenue property, or consolidating debt, NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT.