It looks like the shit is starting to hit the fan in the housing market. It’s starting to spill into the stock market with this announcement from Toll Brothers Inc. and more and more into the mainstream (unfortunately it probably hasn’t caught on with the speculative condo owners yet). Weston Boone, vice president of listed trading at Legg Mason Wood Walker says:
A soft real-estate market is not good for the consumer. It is not going to bode well going forward. You have to take into consideration the rising interest-rate environment. There aren’t a lot of catalysts for positive sentiment in the market.
Hopefully by the time the market is in the bottom of it’s trough, I’ll have enough of a down payment saved up. Historically, the time from peak to trough has lasted at least 7 quarters (or 1.75 years) in Vancouver. So I am extremely content to not be invested in real estate at this time. Not only is my rent far below the mortgage payment I would pay for the same place, but we can pick up leave with a month’s notice at any time. No, rent is certainly NOT throwing your money away.