EDMONTON REAL ESTATE @EdmontonRealty

Get a lock on mortgage rates Customers who are nearing the end of their fixed-rate term may be better off paying early exit penalties and securing a new deal By Helen Morris, National Post Even though there was a drop in some of this week’s fixed-rate mortgage products, some rates are expected to go up this year. Why the inconsistency between fixed and open rates? Fixed-rate mortgages follow bond yields, which have fallen recently. Variable rate mortgages reflect changes in the Bank of Canada’s prime rate, which is expected to rise. There are ways to cushion the blow of rate hikes and make sure mortgage hikes are not a shock to your financial system. “If the client is in a variable rate, which has the most fluctuation potential in the short term, I suggest they base their payments on a 4% fixed rate rather than making the lower payments based on today’s 2.25% variable rate,” says Gerri Vaughan, mortgage broker with Invis in Edmonton. “That way, they’re paying more towards ...

Advanced Tax Strategies Creating a tax-deductible Canadian mortgage Ayton MacEachern Investopedia.com Published Tuesday, Mar. 29, 2011 6:46AM EDT Last updated Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011 7:19AM EDT The way that mortgages are treated in the Canadian tax code is slightly different than in the U.S. One main difference is that the interest on a mortgage for a principal private residence in Canada is not tax deductible. However, no taxes are payable on any capital gains upon selling the home. But what if there was a way to take advantage of the capital gaYour Net Worth and Cash Flow An individual's net worth is his or her assets minus liabilities. To increase your net worth, you must either increase your assets, decrease your liabilities, or both. An individual's free cash flow is the amount of cash that is left over after all expenses and debt payments have been made. To increase your cash flow, you must spend less, get a better paying job, or pay less tax. Let's take ...

EDMONTON - Buyer satisfaction regarding new homes in the Edmonton market has increased since 2009, says the latest J.D. Power and Associates survey. Overall new-homebuyer satisfaction increased to 711 on a 1,000-point scale, according to the 2011 Alberta New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study. That translates roughly to 71 per cent. “That’s definitely a good score and we’ve seen continuous improvement in the Alberta market overall, both Edmonton and Calgary,” said Adrian Chung, senior manager of the real estate practice at J.D. Power and Associates, a marketing information services firm. That’s up 63 points from the last survey in 2009, when overall satisfaction was only 648. That result was based on a survey from 2008, the first year J.D. Power surveyed the Alberta market. “With that great increase, you can see there’s been a very serious focus by builders to try and improve the standards that they’re offering their customers in that space,” Chung said. “There’s bee...

OTTAWA — The mood of Canadian consumers darkened this month amid record-high oil prices and political upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa, the Conference Board of Canada said Tuesday. The Ottawa-based think-tank said its confidence index dropped sharply in March, falling to 83.7 from 89.3 the previous month. The reading is lower than the 92.5 recorded in March 2010, but still higher than the 78.1 level of six months ago, the board said. "In the context of global events, particularly the volatility in oil prices as a result of unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, the Conference Board is not surprised that Canadian consumer confidence fell in March." The board said survey responses to current and future finances questions "were particularly pessimistic." Ontario had the biggest decline in March, falling 11.2 points to 73.7. "This decline leaves Ontario well below other regions when it comes to relative confidence levels," the boar...

http://www.calgarysun.com/homesandcondos/news/2011/03/21/17696441.html Ivan Abelar

Higher prices, interest rates just around the corner PATRICIA CROFT Globe and Mail Blog Posted on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 6:47AM EDT Patti Croft is recently retired as chief economist, RBC Global Asset Management, with 30 years of experience on Bay Street working as an economist and global asset allocation strategist. I suspect many Canadians reacted with disbelief to last week’s inflation report for the month of February, which showed that our core or underlying rate of inflation fell to a record low of just 0.9 per cent, the lowest since record keeping began in 1985. In addition, the overall rate of inflation dipped slightly to 2.2 per cent. When filling up the car or going to the grocery store, it’s hard to believe inflation in Canada is that benign. Indeed, Canada is totally out of step with emerging market economies such as China, India and Brazil, all struggling to rein in soaring inflation largely related to food prices. China has stated that curbing inflation is i...

New Canadian stunned when Scotiabank penalty soars without warning By Kathy Tomlinson CBC News Posted: Mar 22, 2011 6:14 AM PT Mortgage penalties5:05 A Vancouver man is speaking out about how Scotiabank charged him $25,000 to pay out his mortgage early — nine months after telling him the fee would be half that much. "It totally doesn't make sense to me," said Mohsen Movahed. "I learned that dealing with banks in Canada it could be very dangerous. Everything is against the customers. You should have a huge knowledge." Movahed is an engineer who moved to Canada from Iran in 2006 and landed a job at BC Hydro. The following year, he and his wife bought a condo in North Vancouver with a mortgage of well over $400,000. Then they had a second child, his wife stopped working and he said the payments became unaffordable. "My income seems not enough. We have a baby," said Movahed. "So I thought, I have to do something. Let's contact the ban...

Terms // The Bank // Rates through our brokers 1 Year // 3.50% // 2.64% 2 Years // 3.75% // 3.18% 3 Years // 4.35% // 3.35% 4 Years // 5.14% // 3.60% 5 Years // 5.44% // 3.94% 7 Years // 6.60% // 4.79% 10 Years// 6.75% // 4.99% VIRM // 3.00% // 2.20% The prime rate is 3.00% EMAIL ME AT ivan@premierteam.ca

#yeg Real Estate investment firm CEO charged with fraud http://bit.ly/ea4a7Q . #doyourduediligence Ivan Abelar

Rising Rates – Should I Lock In? Peter Kinch & Freeman Yee With the recent upswing in interest rates, there is a tendency for those who are currently in a variable rate mortgage to rush out and lock in to the best 5 year rate available today. And if you are a new homebuyer (especially first time homebuyers) the prevailing logic is to choose a long term fixed rate mortgage for the comfort and security that it provides in times of uncertainty. In fact, there is so much talk about locking in these days it makes me wonder if maybe that’s exactly what the banks want us to think. The argument put forward by those who prefer floating with the Prime rate is that anyone who has taken the variable rate mortgage over the fixed rate mortgage has been further ahead 88% of the time over the last 20 to 30 years. That begs the question; now that we have just come out of historically low rates as a result of the global recession – are we now in that ‘12%’ period of time where it makes sense...

Debate continues over possibility of Saskatchewan rent control program Only agreement between groups is province needs more affordable and social housing Reported By Patrick Book Posted March 8, 2011 - 8:40pm The debate is raging over the NDP's idea to reinstate a rent control program in Saskatchewan. People trying to rent homes in Regina and Saskatoon know full well how hard it is with rents higher than ever and vacancy rates in the one per cent range. Politicians are battling over the merits of rent control in the legislature as the opposition moves to make it a major campaign issue this election year. Landlord Jason Hall admits there are people in need of low-income housing that are suffering right now, but even though rents having doubled for some tenants in recent years, he insists landlords are just trying to make ends meet and combat rising costs. "Unless someone waves a magic wand in this province and stops the rising price of gas, the price of lumber...

February Housing Prices mirror 2009 after increasing from January ◦ Monthly Statistics Edmonton, March, 2011: It was 2009 all over again if the housing figures released by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton are any indication. Prices for all categories of residential property sold in February mirrored prices in the same month in 2009 after showing pricing gains from January this year. Single family detached properties sold for $359,934 on average* in February; up 1% from January. The February price was down 3.1% from a year ago but close to the $349,810 price in February 2009. Condo prices followed the same pattern. At $230,911 on average, condos were up 4.5% from a month ago but down 0.65% year over year. In February 2009, condos sold for $229,685. The average price for a duplex/rowhouse in February was $303,440; up 2% from January but down 5.6% from a year ago. In 2009, the February price for this category was $288,379. "Sales and prices in early 2010 were pushed ...