We were talking with one of our mortgage broker friends this morning and found that there has been a slight change in a few popular mortgage interest rates.  These are best rates, your rates may vary.

* 4-year mortgages have increased slightly to 2.99%

* 5-year mortgages have increased slightly to 3.04%

* 7-year mortgages have dropped to 3.55%

The 10-year fixed mortgage is still available at 3.89%.  This is a great way to control your mortgage costs for the long term.

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If you are looking for a great quality new house in the Langford area we have awesome news for you.  We were down to our last 2 lots at Homes at Hazelwood, but have been able to buy eight additional lots from the developer next door. Their loss is your gain!

We are already busy building 3 bedroom houses, all of which will be complete on or before March 31, 2013 and each will be sold for only $389,900 including net sales tax.

Real detached houses, no strata fees, and your own back yard!

By the wayt, if you are a first time buyer, this March 31 date is critical as it means that you may qualify for the bonus $10,000 income tax refund as well as skipping the property transfer tax!  That's a big savings.  Even if you aren't a first time buyer, you will love the Limona build quality and great neighbourhood.

And there is more...  If don't have a down payment, but have good credit you can still buy that dream home that you have been waiting for.

Visit www.HomesAtHazelwood.ca for more details!

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Now is the time of the year that our local real estate market typically wakes up and comes back to life after the lull through the Christmas season.  When we look back, we see that each year, January is the slowest month with the lowest sales volume.  This year is no exception to that rule.  The volumes that we are seeing right now are low, lower than last year, but that makes sense considering that we went through December with lower volumes.

The single family home market continues to be the relatively stronger part of the market. Although sales volume is down, selling prices are relatively similar to where they were last year at this time.  However, if the volume stays low, I would expect prices to soften as an increased number of motivated sellers bring their houses to market.

The condo market, unfortunately, is experiencing more challenges from a sellers point of view.  Like houses, the volume of sales is quite low.  But, unlike houses, the median selling price is well off from last year.  If you have a condo that you must sell, you will need to price your unit sharply to generate interest. 

One very important point to keep in mind is that when selling prices are down, it also means that buying prices are down - obviously.  The saying that I use is "The ocean floats all boats!"  In short, don't worry too much about selling in a down market as you will recoup it in the purchase.  

Here are the stats from the last 30 days:

Over the last 30 days, 91 single family houses were sold, down by 20 houses from last week.  The median price is up $5,000 to $540,000. The average house was on the market for 72 days.

In the same time period, 50 condos were sold, down by 7 condos from last week.  The median price is down $7,825 to $235,175. The average condo was on the market for 63 days.

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