I had the opportunity to help a few clients purchase a home who had the interpretation they would not be able to enter the housing market for another year. These clients had solid credit, good job stability but they lacked one of the most common first time buyer requirements, a down payment.
In these, like all [...]
Social Services Minister Donna Harpauer announced an expansion of the Lighthouse that will add 65 affordable housing units by December of 2011, essentially doubling the capacity of the supported living facility. The $11.5 million dollar addition will be funded with an investment from the federal and provincial Affordable Housing Trust.
Once completed, the facility will offer [...]
I’ve just read “Assessing Vulnerabilities in the Canadian Housing Market,” a five-page report written by CIBC economist Benjamin Tal and released on May 25. If you’re looking for some reassurances that the bottom isn’t about to fall out of the Canadian housing market, you may appreciate Tal’s assessment.
Mr. Tal clearly feels that Canadian housing is [...]
Housing affordability in Canada deteriorated for the third consecutive quarter and is likely to erode further over the next 12 to 18 months, despite changes in conditions which point to more balanced real estate markets, according to the RBC Housing Trends and Affordability study released today. Anticipated interest rate hikes are expected to increase the [...]
Strong home sales driven by consumer efforts to beat rising interest rates and the harmonized sales tax coming soon to Ontario and British Columbia will push the nation’s average home price to just under $350,000 before it peaks and starts to decline says a report released by TD Economics today. While sales should come close [...]
According to a report released today by the Salvation Army, approximately one in nine Canadians say they have either experienced homelessness or have come close to experiencing homelessness at some point in their life. The report titled, “Poverty shouldn’t be a life sentence” is based on responses to a telephone survey conducted in late 2009 [...]
The threat of higher fixed term mortgage rates became a reality this morning as the Royal Bank and TD Canada Trust announced significant hikes. The Laurentain Bank followed suit and it’s believed that other major lenders will quickly fall in line.
Effective tomorrow, the posted rate for a five-year closed mortgage climbs by six-tenths of a [...]
The final quarter of 2009 saw softer sales and growing inventory “put a damper” on rising house prices in Saskatchewan, according to RBC’s March 2010 Housing Trends and Affordability Study. While housing affordability “eroded mildly” on a national level, Saskatchewan showed “substantial improvement.”
The big bounce in resale activity that took place during the spring and [...]
On February 16, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced new rules that affect mortgage lenders and borrowers starting on April 19 of this year.
One of the changes requires that buyers qualify for their high-ratio mortgage based on the “five-year fixed rate” even if their mortgage payments are actually calculated on an available lower rate. In other [...]
Remax released it’s 2010 Market Trends Report today stating that “healthy levels” of inventory and demand that is gaining momentum are moving the Saskatoon real estate market towards a “full recovery.”
Other tidbits from the Saskatoon section of the report include the following:
While sales are still off of last year’s numbers average prices continue to edge [...]
Insisting that Canada is not facing a housing bubble, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a tightening on mortgage lending rules, which he says will “help prevent negative trends from developing.”
Effective April 19, 2010 the following changes will take effect.
Home buyers must qualify for their mortgage using the five-year fixed mortgage rate, regardless of the term [...]
