2022 Will Be The Year of UP
BC tax Assessments are out in the mail and are available online. I think most homeowners will be quite surprised by the increase in their tax assessed values. Some homes have increased up to 35% over last year and most are seeing nothing less than double digit increases.
Metro Vancouver’s housing market remained very active again for the last month of 2021. We are nearing record low levels of housing supply, and this is pushing prices way up. It’s not just pent-up demand and low inventory causing prices to rise, but the cost of construction materials and labour have also risen substantially.
Inflation is expected to remain elevated for the first half of 2022 and the recent spike in COVID cases and severe weather will likely cause inflation to continue its upward trend.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reports that residential home sales in the region totalled 2,688 in December 2021, a 13% decrease from the same month last year and decreased 22% from November 2021.
Last month’s sales were 33% above the 10-year December’s sales average.
The number of homes available for sale last month decreased 19% compared to the same period last year and dropped almost 51% from November 2021.
The MLS® Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all residential properties in Metro Vancouver increased 17% from same period last year and is currently $1,230,200.
The benchmark price for a detached home increased 22% from same period last year and is $1,910,200, up 2% from November 2021.
The benchmark price for apartments increased 13% from same period last year and is $761,800 up modestly from November 2021.
The benchmark price for attached homes increased 22% from same period last year and is $1,004,900, up modestly from November 2021.
Fixed mortgage rates are much higher than they were just a year ago. Fixed rates are up at least 50% from last year.It is expected that fixed mortgage rates will rise this year; how much; hard to say, but I believe we may see most terms in the 3% range. The biggest move may be with Variable rate mortgages. The Prime rate is not expected to remain at its historical low level and should increase by at least 30% this year.
Currently 5-year fixed rates can be offered as low as 2.59% and as high as 2.89% depending on lender and product. Variable rate mortgages can be offered as low as 1.35%.