The Myplace Playbook // 058

Hey Everyone,

If you’re eyeing your first place or thinking about a move, this spring does feel different.

The Bank of Canada left rates where they are at 2.25%, with prime sitting at 4.45%. Instead of big swings, the outlook for 2026 looks a lot more like “steady as she goes” than “hold onto your hat.” That kind of stability is bringing buyers back out, especially first‑timers who were sitting on the sidelines waiting for things to calm down.

At the same time, more than a million mortgages are set to renew this year. Some of those owners are coming off pandemic‑era lows and seeing payments jump 15–40%. That stings. But it’s also why I still like variables for the right situations: they give you room to benefit if things ease off later instead of locking you into today’s weather forever.

Roll back to your grandparents’ era in the 1950s and those first homes looked very different. New houses averaged under 1,000 square feet, with a whole family of four squeezed into what we’d now call a “cozy” two‑bedroom. The “big” ones from that time? A modern listing would probably describe them as “cute and quaint” and stage them with a love seat instead of a full sofa.

But they worked. Single‑family homes were the norm in new suburbs, CMHC insurance made it possible to own on modest incomes, and prices hovered around three times what a household made in a year. Simple, tight, and affordable was the formula.

Jump ahead to the 1980s and the vibe is very different. Mortgage rates blew past 20%, markets whipsawed, and places like Vancouver got a harsh lesson in what happens after a boom.

In BC, the “BC Box” was king: those rectangular, no‑nonsense special houses from the late ’60s through the ’80s. Low‑sloped roof, front door into a split stairwell, main living up, potential suite down, carport tacked on the side. They weren’t exactly dream‑home material, but they did one thing well: they kept up with demand in a frantic market.

Today, the average new Canadian home is roughly double the size of your grandparents’ place. We’ve gone from “can we fit a table in here?” to open‑concept everything. But the pendulum is starting to swing back a bit.

Families are paying more attention to how a home works than how big it is. Townhomes, duplexes, and smaller, smartly designed homes are getting more love. Condos have shrunk, land isn’t getting cheaper, and people are choosing livable and affordable over max square footage.

Here in the Kootenays, that all shows up as tight inventory. When rates are stable and there are only so many good listings, anything well‑priced and well‑located gets attention fast. If you’re a first‑time buyer, this spring is a chance to get ahead of the summer crowd instead of chasing it.

We can’t control time zones, interest rates, or what your neighbour lists their house for. We can control how prepared you are when the right place shows up.

That’s what I’m here for: to give you enough clear, Kootenay‑grounded info that these decisions feel manageable instead of overwhelming.

Hit reply and tell me where you’re at: buying, renewing, or just thinking out loud. We’ll walk through it together.

-Andrew