Is now the time to rent or buy a home? Experts weigh in
For many, owning their own home is the dream, but as interest rates spike, the question on minds is whether to buy or rent.
Geoff Walker with Walker Real Estate Group says that’s a deeply personal choice based on your own finances and situation.
Walker says renting can help keep costs lower.
He says right now, a $600,000 townhouse with a minimum down payment could cost you more than $3,350 a month. On top of that, there are property taxes, interest, and maintenance costs associated with home ownership.
Walker says, as that adds up, for some it may be better to rent right now.
“There’s a bit of a perception that renting is ‘lesser than’, when sometimes renting can put you further ahead,” he explains.
The real estate agent says if you want to buy, plan to be in the house for a few years to see your return, and focus on affordability, especially as everything becomes more expensive.
“I think you have to choose the right mortgage product very carefully,” he explains. “I think we’ve seen those types of buyers that have had those variable rate mortgages, where now all of a sudden, (they) have a bit of a pinch in their monthly payment, and that’s a squeeze right? That can really make an impact.”
If you are looking to buy, one benefit is that you have more negotiation power than in the last few years, according to Frank Napolitano with Mortgage Brokers Ottawa.
“Certainly now when you are looking to bid on a home, you’re not going to have to go $50,000 or $100,000 over list price,” Napolitano says. “You’ll probably get it very close to the list price or in some cases even below the list price.”
Napolitano says with some forecasters warning of a recession in the near future, some may want to wait.
“If interest rates can bottom out a little bit and get back to a traditional between 3 and 4 percent, then I think you’ll start to see young Canadians feel better about buying a property at that point,” he explains.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
Shovels have hit the ground for constuction on Canada's LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa.
B.C. man awarded $5,000 in damages in first-of-it-kind intimate image case
In a first-of-its-kind case, a B.C. tribunal has ruled on a dispute involving the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, awarding damages and issuing orders that the photos be destroyed and taken offline.