Quote:
Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling
If you've got a downpayment, you think you'll live there for 5-years at least, would like stability (vs renting) and can afford the carrying costs (mortgage, utils, taxes, repairs and maintenance) as well as the risk of higher interest rates at your next renewal it seems like a good time to buy.
The problem with IMF/TD/Dousche Bank reports is they generalize too much. It's easy to say we're overvalued by Toronto and Vancouver price/income ratios, when considering job growth, unemployment and in comparison to rent. Calgary on the other hand - with the incomes people have in this city our affordability index shows better than the other major centres in Canada. The housing skeptics like to lambast about bad things in Toronto and Vancouver then throw in Calgary and refer to it as a boom/bust town. If you've got a job that you feel is stable and you can afford to buy I think it's a perfectly fine time.
But don't expect to make a ton of capital gains off of a house. That should be a bonus on top of living in it and paying down the mortgage so you have an asset at the end of the amortization that is worth a substantial amount of money.
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I never pay too much attention to national housing stats for that reason. The country is far too big to generalize the housing market into one stat. The situation in Fort Mac is likely the complete opposite of that in Newfoundland. People don't take into account household incomes when they compare cities like Calgary and Vancouver as mentioned. Some cities may be overvalued but definitely not all