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23 | Thursday, December 8, 2016 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Animal Tales " ConnectedtoyourCom m unity" Please send your animal photo, with a brief photo caption explaining the photo, along with who should get the photo credit, and the Beaver will do its best to publish the submissions in our new Animal Tales feature. Please forward submissions to ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com. Starling at sunrise ANNUAL SALE 20% - 70% Until D ec em b e r15 In stock items only SAVE SESC O LITE Veterinarian assistant Alex Benedict snapped this European starling in her backyard one autumn morning. Alex Benedict photo Plug into expert lighting advice at one of our showrooms or shop online at www.sescolite.com 4175 Fairview Street, Burlington 905-632-8659 after a tax on hom e-purchases by foreign non-residents was introduced in August. But nationally, a slowdown in demand can be a good thing, Cooper says. That should ease the tight supply in places like southw estern Ontario and the Lower Mainland of BC, where there have been a dearth of listings. Once people feel prices m ay have peaked, Cooper expects m ore homeowners, particularly downsizing baby boom ers, to list their properties, introducing more inventory into those tight m arkets. But Cooper does n ot advocate trying to tim e the m arket when buying a home. "M ortgage brokers are of differing opinions as to w hether or n ot people should borrow fixed versus variable. It depends on one's risk-preference and particular financial situation. But I would argue th at interest rates will be higher going forward. If you are risk-averse, you would want to lock into a fixed rate. If you don't mind taking a gamble, variable rates are lower than fixed rates right now." 2017 to Provide Opportunities for Home Buyers The home buying frenzy th a t pushed real estate prices to double-digit increases in m any Canadian cities this year will likely be tem pered in 2 0 1 7 by a slowdown in demand, says Dominion Lending Centres Chief Econom ist Sherry Cooper, presenting millennial homebuyers an opportunity to either enter or further invest in the m arket. Beyond the expected uptick in interest rates (still at relatively low levels), it's too early to judge the im pact th a t the political and economic events of October and November will have on the market. However, Cooper expects 2 0 1 6 's price appreciation to slow down, which will be particular refuge, n o t only in historically h ot m arkets in Ontario and British Columbia, but throughout the country. House sales and prices climbed throughout 2 0 1 6 in m ost Canadian cities with the exception of Calgary, hit by the oil downturn, and Vancouver, where the red h ot m arket earlier in the year cooled "There are just too m any factors th at go into th at decision," she says. "However, I think for people who have already com m itted to buying a home, th ere's no question th at getting a m ortgage sooner rather than later makes sense, as m ortgage rates may rise a bit n ext year." Because of the uncertainty in the m arket and questions over fixed-rate-versus variable-rate m ortgages, it also makes sense to take advantage of the expertise of an accredited m ortgage professional. Dr. Sherry Cooper Chief Economist for Dominion Lending Centres nrm D o m in io n CENTRES L e n d in g 1-888-806-8080 www.dominionlending.ca