Posts tagged as:

affordability

Pending changes to Canadian mortgage rules may bite hard

March 6, 2010

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 [...]

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Saskatoon real estate market on its way to full recovery: Remax

February 24, 2010

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 [...]

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New Canadian mortgage rules effective April 19 2010

February 16, 2010

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 [...]

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Mortgage lending requirements in Canadian banks about to get tougher

February 16, 2010

Canada’s Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty will announce this morning a change in lending rules that will further limit the amount of cash buyers can borrow to finance a home according to a report on Globe and Mail.
Stimulus cash, and historically low interest rates have created an enticing environment for Canadian home buyers who have flooded [...]

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Housing affordability in Saskatoon shows modest year-over-year improvement

January 27, 2010

I can’t imagine that it would come as much of a surprise to anyone that the cost of home ownership in Saskatoon has skyrocketed in recent years. According to the recently released “6th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey” owning a Saskatoon home priced at the median in Q3/2009 would have cost about 4.4 times [...]

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Greater risk in Canadian housing markets remaining hot than cooling down: TD

December 2, 2009

TD Bank Financial Group released a “Resale Housing Outlook” yesterday that provides some insights into the potential consequences of the quick recovery that the Canadian housing market experienced over the past year. It’s a pretty interesting, “where we’ve been, where we may be headed” report. Some of the ideas that caught my attention from the [...]

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Trend towards improved housing affordability reverses in Q3-2009: RBC

November 25, 2009

From RBC’s November 2009 Housing Trends and Affordability Study
The string of significant improvements in housing affordability in Canada finally came to an end in the third quarter. RBC’s affordability measures rose at the national level for the first time in six quarters for all housing types.
All provinces and major metro markets shared in the deterioration [...]

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Saskatchewan shows considerable housing affordability improvement: RBC

September 9, 2009

RBC Economics just released their fall Housing Trends and Affordability study that shows house prices having returned to “pre-boom” levels nationally with Saskatchewan showing considerable affordability improvements, but remaining above long-term historical averages. At the same time, the graph on page eight of the report suggests that affordability improvements may level off as Saskatoon seems [...]

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Housing affordability returns to, or near, long-term averages in Canada: RBC

July 8, 2009

RBC Economics has just released their latest Housing Trends and Affordability report for the Canadian real estate market. Here are some excerpts that touch on affordability changes nationally, and in Saskatchewan.
Improved affordability lifts Canada’s housing markets
Housing affordability greatly improved in the first quarter of this year; RBC’s affordability measures for all housing types recorded some [...]

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Affordable housing assistance from city may be on its way

June 16, 2009

According to the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, “Saskatoon city council’s executive committee approved a new mortgage support program on Tuesday to help low- and moderate-income people get into the housing market.
“Under the program, which will replace the home start affordable housing initiative, people with a household income of $52,000 or less will be given a five [...]

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Housing affordability trend turns on lower rates and higher incomes: RBC

April 25, 2009

Here are a few of the highlights from RBC’s recent Housing Trends and Affordability study released yesterday.
As we head into the all-important spring season, the ongoing cyclical correction will put the entire housing sector to the test. However, while the pain will likely persist for many homeowners and industry participants, there are encouraging signs on [...]

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