Calgary Housing Market Still Strong
Below is an article that notes Calgary’s home prices are still supported.
Mark Herman, top Calgary mortgage broker for purchases and mortgage renewals
Calgary’s housing market is not under threat of a correction despite a downturn in the local economy, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said in an analysis Thursday.
Its assessment of 15 metro markets lists Calgary as “low risk” while Toronto, Regina and Winnipeg were rated “high risk.” The review considered four factors — overheating; acceleration in house prices; overvaluation; and overbuilding — as of the end of March.
“The low price of oil has affected many different sectors of the economy, affecting employment and income growth, and increasing the unemployment rate. Weaker labour market conditions have also slowed migration to the region,” CMHC said of the Calgary-area market.
…
Meanwhile, Vancouver — one of the country’s priciest real estate markets — was deemed low risk, even as home prices there continue to soar. The benchmark price of a detached home in metropolitan Vancouver hit $1.1 million in July, up 16.2 per cent from a year ago, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said last week.
… Statistics Canada said Thursday that new home prices in the Calgary area rose 0.1 per cent in June.
“Higher land prices were largely offset by builders reducing prices because of market conditions,” the federal agency said. Prices were up 0.7 per cent year-over-year.
In its latest report, the Calgary Real Estate Board said the average MLS sale price for July was $476,446, down about 1 per cent from a year ago while the median price of $435.000 grew by 2.35 per cent. The benchmark price, which CREB identifies as a typical property sold in the market, was largely unchanged at $455,400.
With files from The Canadian Press
Medical Doctor Mortgage Program – mortgage financing on your projected income!!
UPDATED!
ATTENTION soon-to-be-Doctors – FINALLY a program that acknowledges that you will be earing lots of money – soon, but not just yet.
Medical Doctors still in school or residency can qualify for financing with 20% down payment (up to 80% LTV) using projected income.
More details:
- “Projected income” is based on what a medical doctor is expected to earn in their specialization of practice.
- existing student loans, or student line of credit are fine
- the 20% down CAN BE borrowed funds from a Line of Credit, or other source
- part or all of the 20% down CAN BE gifted from a family member
- there is NO sliding scale – which means if you want a 1,200,000 home and you have the 20% down ($240,000) then it can still work!
Call for details and a quick chat on the phone: 403- 681-4376
Mark Herman, Top Calgary, Alberta Mortgage broker for doctors and renewals.
My bank REALLY REALLY REALLY wants my mortgage! Really?
Does your bank really, really, really want your mortgage that badly?
Do you know why?
NOT because they make lots of money on mortgages.
NOT because the bank rep needs to fill their mortgage quota this month (this happens too.)
BECAUSE the banks have studies that if they can get you to have 3 or more products with them, your odds of leaving to go to another bank fall by 75%.
This means 2 things:
- If they can get you to have the mortgage in addition to your existing checking and savings accounts and or credit card then you will probably not leave for another bank and their cost of customer acquisition is very high.
- Then they can cross-sell you the products they really, really make money on:
- LOCs – line of credits – and more credit cards both with overdraft protection and insurance for the minimum payments if you are injured or laid-off.
- mortgage insurance – a huge profit for them as they try very hard later not to pay claims in their post-claim underwriting process
- mutual funds
- long distance phone plans
- travel insurance
- all the rest.
And 1 more VERY important thing:
Banks know that 86% of people will stay with their existing bank at mortgage renewal time. AND if you have the magic 3 products will you move your mortgage somewhere else then?
Banks expect you to chisel them down now, and when you renew they renew you at rates that are typically .25% to .75% higher than they should be. And 86% of people just sign the renewal docs and send them back. (More data from studies.)
This does NOT happen with mortgages via mortgage brokers as the banks know they have to renew you at the best possible rates or the very same broker that took the customer to that bank will be the very same broker that moves the customer to a new bank if for a better rate on renewal.
Do you want to play this game with the banks or just skip it all together?
All this advice from the top mortgage broker in Calgary Alberta, Mark Herman.
Alternative Canadian Mortgage Lenders
THE ALTERNATIVE LENDING MARKET IS GROWING!
According to data compiled by CIBC World Markets (based on Statistics Canada figures), the value of loans from alternative lenders has increased by 25% this past year. In comparison, the overall growth in the mortgage market for 2014 was 4%.
As the number of alternative borrowers grows, it’s important to find a top Calgary Alberta mortgage broker that can provide customized solutions and deals with common sense lenders. We specialize in alternative lenders that have financial solutions to meet:
- Clients who don’t fit the traditional ‘A’ lending / or bank guidelines.
- Self-employed or commissioned clients with stated income.
- Salaried clients with a GDS/TDS that doesn’t meet traditional bank requirements.
- Clients with bruised credit due to extenuating circumstances.
- Clients with outstanding Canada Revenue Agency debts.
- New immigrants to Canada.
- Sophisticated residential real estate investors.
- Clients who can demonstrate a reasonable ability to make future mortgage payments.
All of our solutions are customized to fit the specific needs of the borrower—bringing them closer to their financial goals.
Call me, Mark Herman, Top Calgary Alberta mortgage broker, to talk about any of these products for your specific situation.
403-6891-4376
Oil Price & Mortgage Interest Rates
This is an easy way to see the relationship between oil prices and mortgage interest rates.
Mark Herman, Top Calgary Alberta mortgage broker.
The path between the price of oil and the cost of your mortgage may seem long and winding and hard to follow, but it does exist.
Oil is a major component of Canada’s economy. Energy accounts for about 25% of Canadian exports and oil is a significant part of that. Oil is now selling for about half what it was just a few months ago.
Lower oil prices mean less royalty money for governments. Low oil also means the main driver of employment in Canada – the Alberta oil patch – is likely to slow as well as energy firms cut back operations. Employment is one of the key indicators the Bank of Canada watches when determining interest rate policy.
Falling oil prices are likely to have an, overall, negative effect on Canada?s economy, exerting downward pressure on the Bank of Canada rate, and therefore variable mortgage rates. The impact on GDP and employment will likely hold down government bond yields and, in turn, fixed mortgage costs.
Payout Penalties and the Bank’s new(er) trick
PAYOUT PENALTIES:
Short Version:
Broker only lenders – the top 3 broker-only lenders are bigger than any of the banks in Canada – do not have POSTED rates like the banks do. They do not then give discounts off of posted to keep you happy. They have 1 rate and that is the rate you get which is usually always lower than the bank rates.
Banks give you the discount off of posted “becuase they love you” now BUT if you ever have to payout your mortgage the banks then “recapture” that discount on the payout penalty. We see many instances when it used to be about $2000 it is now more like $9000! OR more!
This makes a big differance to your final payout and another reason to use a professional, full-time, top mortgage broker for your mortgage. (The rate is the rate, BUT the details make all the differance!)
Long Version:
Many of the banks are using the value of the discount given today as the basis of comparing the remaining term IRD (interest rate differential) payout calculation. This means if rates today stay the same as when you got your mortgage before, a client paying off his mortgage (becuase you are moving or we lucky enough to run into a windfall of funds), the bank penalty is now $10,000 MORE than if you were at at a broker lender – as in, a lender that bases IRD on the Best Broker Rate for the exact same IRD calculation.
So, if you are at RBC, TD, CIBC, BMO or Scotia that “discount” you get off the posted rate can really come back to haunt you later!
Another reason to use a professional, full-time, mortgage broker!
Mark Herman, Top Calgary, Alberta mortgage broker, mortgage renewal
Retail Sales: Alberta spends the most
“More support of Calgary and Alberta home prices; the high-value jobs in Calgary pay more and the 40,000 people a year that move to Alberta are spending that money. The numbers are mind blowing.”
Mark Herman; Calgary, Alberta mortgage broker
Jonathan Muma Nov 25, 2014 10:25:24 AM
Albertans love to shop.
That’s according to the latest report from Statistics Canada which shows retail sales are up $6.7-billion, or 7.4 % from a year ago through the first nine months of this year.
That’s the highest annual growth rate in the country.
The next closest province is British Columbia at 5.3 %, and Canada overall, retail sales grew to $42.8-billion, up 4.5% from a year ago.
http://www.660news.com/2014/11/25/alberta-leads-the-way-as-canadian-retail-sales-soar/
YYZ & YVR homes: more expensive than Rome, closing in on Paris!
This is some interesting data on the housing market in Vancouver and Toronto from one of the banks we deal with.
Mark Herman; Calgary, Alberta mortgage broker
—
Canadian home prices really are “world class”, at least in the country’s two hottest markets.
A survey shows the price for prime residential property Toronto and Vancouver has surpassed Rome and is closing in on Paris. Vancouver is at nearly $1,400 a square foot and Toronto is a little above $1,200. (Top spot is London at more than $3,600/sq. ft.)
The survey says growing foreign investment as a key reason for the rising prices because international investors consider Canadian real estate as a safe haven.
That’s backed up by high-profile Canadian economist Sal Gautieri. He also points to domestic factors: population growth in Toronto and Vancouver (and Calgary) has outpaced the national average by about 2 to 1 over the past decade; economic prospects remain good in both cities; and low financing continues to be a key factor in pricey markets.
Mortgages could get tougher soon = buy sooner
Boring data below – and we also have *secret* data that the government is going to make things harder for home buyers = buy sooner if you can before the program you may need no longer exists. This is true ESPECIALLY for SELF EMPLOYED people.
Jim Flaherty vows to intervene in housing market again if needed
Canada’s finance minister says he’ll intervene in the housing market for a fifth time, if that’s what’s needed, to head off any bubble.
“We have to watch out for bubbles – always – in markets around the world, including our own Canadian residential real estate market, which I keep a sharp eye on,” Jim Flaherty said today in Edmonton, where he unveiled his fall economic and fiscal update, The Globe and Mail’s Carrie Tait reports.
“And I’ve intervened four times in the last several years, and I’ll intervene again if I have to to make sure we don’t create a housing bubble.”
Mr. Flaherty’s latest move came in the summer of 2012, when he tightened mortgage insurance rules and deliberately sparked a slump in the residential real estate market.
The effect of that has faded, however, and, as The Globe and Mail’s Tara Perkins has reported, sales have rebounded, at least partly because of expectations of higher interest rates.
Canada’s housing market is seen by some groups as among the frothiest in the world, though most economists do not expect a U.S.-style meltdown.
Mr. Flaherty’s comments highlight the continuing concern among policy makers over the strength of Canada’s real estate market as families continue to juggle record debt burdens.
Indeed, the Canadian Real Estate Association is expected later this week to report another month of strong home sales in October, somewhere in the area of 12 per cent.
Canada revises its numbers
As for his fall update, Mr. Flaherty now forecasts a budget surplus of at least $3.7-billion for fiscal 2015-16, the year of the next election, The Globe and Mail’s Bill Curry reports.
Spending cuts, control of public sector wages and asset sales helped push the government to that projection from an initial forecast of just $800-million.
The government now also forecasts a 2013-14 deficit of $17.9-billion and a 2014-15 shortfall of $5.5-billion.
Going forward, the 2015-16 surplus would widen to $5-billion in 2016-17, $5.7-billion a year later and $9.8-billion in 2018-19.
“The emphasis placed on responsible fiscal management has made Canada a recognized leader on the international economic stage,’ the government said in the document.
“Canada’s total government net debt level, which includes the federal, provincial/territorial and local governments as well as the net assets of the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan, is the lowest of any G7 country, standing at less than half the G7 average in 2012, at 34.7 per cent of GDP.”
The Canadian government relies on private sector forecasts for its economic assumptions, the average of which calls for economic growth of 1.7 per cent this year, 2.4 per cent next and 2.6 per cent in 2015. Mark Herman, Calgary Alberta Mortgage Broker.