Surrey building boom continues, but a variety of challenges on horizon
Surrey has just recorded its second-highest total for building permits in history. The 2015 total of $1.46 billion is second only to the 2007 total of $1.49 billion. The building boom continues unabated in the early weeks of 2016, but there are a number of uncertainties out there which may weigh on it as the year progresses. One of the biggest ones is interest rates. The Bank of Canada is under pressure to keep rates low, due to job losses, falling commodity prices and other weaknesses in the Canadian economy. Those low interest rates are a lifeline to most home buyers, who otherwise could not afford to pay the going rate for housing. Whether they will continue is an open question. Another uncertainty is the state of the stock market. Much of the current turmoil is due to a lot of questions about what is happening with China’s businesses. This has many side effects, some of which spill right into the local housing market. There is no question that part of the ong...