Archive for February, 2011

Calgary Real Estate Board Statistics Febuary 2011

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Calgary Real Estate activity levels show substantial increase. 

Whenever I look at the housing market I always look at some key numbers – Inventory, Sales and the median Price .  Looking at these 3 areas in my opinion give us a great snapshot of the market.  Below you will find this information along with a few comments.  Information below is taken directly from the Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats Package for realtors.

Calgary Listing Inventory:  As shown below our inventory in Calgary Metro increased by 547 listing this month.   As suggested before this number will very likely continue to increase as it does every spring.  

Inventory Jan 2011  Feb 2011 Change
Single Family Home 3073 3504 431
Condo’s 1634 1750 116
Total 4707 5254 547

 

Calgary Sales: 

Wow, Need I say anything more – the numbers below speak for themselves.  In certain communities we are even starting to see the odd competing offer.   

Sales Jan 2011    Feb 2011 Change
Single Family Home 791 1169 378 or 47.7%
Condo’s 302 468 166 or 54.9%
Total 1093 1637 544 or 49.8%

 

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices :   For this summary,  I only  focus only on the Median Sales Price as the average can be skewed by How long could treatment at a 7 Day Detox Rehab Program take? Treatment at a detox rehab program can take as little as one week for an alcohol dependence, and two weeks for a drug dependence. Realtors selling more of less million dollar homes and shows a better reflection of the market.  Prices for both Single Family homes and Condos showed increases this last month.  Truly a reflection of supply and demand – our supply (inventory) is still fairly low while demand (sales) increased substantially.

Sales Prices Jan  Median Price Feb    Median Price Change
Single Family Homes $390,000 $400,000 $10,000
Condo’s $255,000 $267,000 $12,000

 

**It is important to note that some of this demand may be due to mortgage rules changing as of March 17th where people can now only amortize a mortgage over 30 years instead of 35 years.

In other news:  The Bank of Canada announced today that it will not be changing it’s overnight rate.  Therefore the Prime lending rate remains at 3.0%

If you have any questions about this summary, the attached stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us anytime.  

Gord Piper and Brent Wilcox

Century 21, The Professionals

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TD’s Mortgage Gamble

Friday, February 25th, 2011

The statement that not all mortgages are created equal came up again recently with regards to TD and how they register their residential mortgages. Effective October 11, 2010, TD started registering all their residential mortgages as collateral mortgages. These changes make it easier for homeowners to tap into their equity and harder for them to switch to another lender upon renewal. Here are some highlights with my comments:

1) Mortgages will be reported to Equifax

This is interesting since traditional mortgages in Canada do not report on your credit history. Lines of credit ( which are registered as collateral charges ) do appear on the credit history. So does this mean that these mortgages will?

2) Collateral mortgage can be registered up to 125% of the borrower’s home value upon close.

This allows you to borrow more money ( if you qualify and your home goes up in value ) in the future and avoid legal costs ( $600 to $900 savings ) – this might be okay but read on. One further issue with this practice is that Realtors will often pull title on a property prior to listing it to see if there is enough left over from the sale to pay their commissions. With a mortgage registered at 125% of the home value this could create concern in the eyes of the realtor.

3) The collateral mortgage is assignable

This means that TD will allow you to transfer this mortgage to another lender at maturity – here is the big negative – there are no lenders at this time that will accept a collateral mortgage for a mortgage transfer. This is important because these mortgages will not qualify for a NO-FEE transfer to a new lending institution – so the borrower must now pay legal and appraisal costs to move to another bank. Currently mortgages that are registered normally can be transferred to a new lender upon renewal at NO COST to the borrower. With TD’s collateral mortgage you will incur these costs to switch to get a better rate.

4) TD will not accept another lenders collateral mortgage charge for transfer

This pretty much confirms it – TD will not accept this type of mortgage at this time and no other lender will accept them either.

So, in summary, in my mind, these changes are more negative than positive because if you loose leverage to negotiate, it could cost you a lot in the form of higher interest rates upon renewal. This move again reinforces why mortgage clients should deal with a qualified Mortgage Broker to help consumers decide what mortgage product is best for them.

Canada Mortgage Direct

Bob Alexander, B.Comm, CMA, AMP

Phone: 403-875-5270
Email: bob@mortgagedoctors.ca
www.mortgagedoctors.ca

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Housing Market Outlook, First Quarter 2011 by CMHC

Monday, February 21st, 2011
Looking for excellent information on Canada’s Housing Market.  Here’s information you should not pass up.
C a n a d a M o r t g a g e a n d H o u s i n g C o r p o r a t i o n produces a quarterly report  broken down by provinces.  In these reports you will find:
  • National Outlook
  • Trends at a Glance
  • Provincial Outlooks including housing starts, resale homes and prices
Charts showing history and predictions on Housing starts, Resale numbers, Prices, Employment, Unemployment, GDP, Key Market Indicators including Rental Vacancy rates.
To view the latest report see CMHC.  If you like what you see you can also subscribe to receive this report directly from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
If you have further questions about the local Calgary Real Estate Market please contact us.
This entry was posted in CMHC Housing Market Outlook and tagged Business/Finance, Calgary, Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Bookmark the permalink.

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January 2011 Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Calgary Home Sales Rise Year – Over – Year – January 2011

If you would like to receive a the full statistics package from the Calgary Real Estate Board every month please contact us.

Below you will find a summary of some key areas with a few short comments.

Calgary Listing Inventory:  As shown below our inventory in Calgary Metro increased by 566 listing this month.   

Inventory December 2010 Jan 2011 Change
Single Family Home 2712 3073 361
Condo’s 1429 1634 205
Total 4141 4707 566

 Calgary Sales: 

 Single Family home sales increased this month and showed the first year over year increase since April 2010.

  Condo sales remained steady yet are still down from last year’s sales numbers.

Sales Dec 2010 Jan 2011 Change
Single Family Home 734 791 57
Condo’s 320 302 -18
Total 1054 1093 39

 

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices :   For this summary,  I only  focus only on the Median Sales Price as the average can be skewed by After all, every casino offers secure transactions, a wide variety of games, and progressive jackpots. Realtors selling more of less million dollar homes and should be a better reflection of the market. 

Prices remained almost the same this month as in December. 

Sales Prices  Dec  Median Price Jan     Median Price Change
Single Family Homes $389,000 $390000 $1,000
Condo’s $258,500 $255,000 – $3500

 

Other:  We have certainly noticed an increase in activity with more active buyers looking to buy and with people getting their homes ready to sell.  Although we expect sales numbers to start showing more increases we also expect the inventory to continue to increase as many of the homes that came off the market last year did not sell and some of those will go back on the market.

If you have any questions about this summary, the attached stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us anytime.  

Gord Piper and Brent Wilcox

http://www.gordpiper.com/index_home.php

Century 21, The Professionals

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New Year’s Resolution: Remodel the Bathroom?

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

It’s no secret that bathrooms are a popular room to remodel—because of outdated features, different decorating taste from the previous owners or simply normal wear and tear on a very functional room of your home. If the New Year has you thinking about remodeling a bathroom, here are a few things to consider:

  • Timely or Timeless Style – Before you remodel, picture what it will look like in a couple years when you sell your home. Will you still enjoy that trendy sink? Make sure future buyers will, too. Otherwise they’ll factor in the cost of their own Joueur de casino internet en ligne et blogger. remodel when making an offer.
  • Costs—Good News – Right now many contractors are eager for work, and prices are lower for their materials and labor, so now may be an ideal time to make your bathroom more livable.
  • Resale Value – You may have heard during the housing boom that bath remodels add value to your home. These days you can recoup about 64% of the costs of a minor bathroom remodel, according to Remodeling magazine’s “2010-11 Cost vs. Value Report.” If your bathroom is especially in need of updates, you may recapture more.
  • Too Much? Think Small – If you’re not ready for a full remodel, then a fresh coat of paint, new towels and a pretty framed print can do wonders to update your bathroom—and give you a new look for 2011.

Remember: you and your family are the ones using your bathroom on a daily basis, so think about whether it makes you feel good when you brush your teeth every morning.

If you’d like more information about how a remodel can affect the value of your home, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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