B.C. condo owner says soaring interest rates forcing him to sell

He doesn’t want to move. He just doesn’t think there’s another option. South Surrey resident Adam Cantor has lived in the same condo for 14 years.

“It’s been fantastic,” he said. “Anything and everything you want is within walking distance.”

But last week, Cantor put his place on the market after learning his payments will soon double.

“Selling for me right now is realistically, the only option in order to not take my entire pay cheque,” he explained.

Cantor said his fixed five-year mortgage is coming up for renewal in January and though he’s going through a divorce, he was able to make payments until the rates increased significantly. That increase, he said, will mean going from paying about $1,900 a month to almost $4,000 on a mortgage for the same term.

“It was shocking to kind of know what I would have to pay in order to stay in a place that I’ve been here for so long,” he told CTV News.

He said he looked at getting a roommate, but worried about a budget that left him financially dependant on a tenant to make ends meet.

Mortgage planner Sharon Davis believes that while everyone’s situation is different, it’s important to seek professional advice and weigh all options.

“It’s going to be tough for the next short while, but you know, it’s not going to be tough forever,” Davis said, explaining that homeowners may need to take a closer look at their monthly budgets.

“Do you have a car payment that maybe could be reduced? Could you maybe consolidate some lines of credit, some credit cards?” she asked.

“If you can save a little bit here and a little bit there, it might make your payment not as bad as it feels,” she explained.

She said some clients are looking at short-term rates.

“We are expecting, in the next couple years, that rates are going to come back into check. They’re not going to stay at these highs for this very long period of time,” Davis said.

As for Cantor, he wants to have enough left over each month to go out with friends and family or take a vacation.

So once he sells, he expects to become a renter and potentially move further out for lower cost housing until he can afford to buy again.