Calgary house prices and sales rise in September
Calgary is showing solid numbers are the in-migration continues. Almost 40% of people moving to Alberta move to Calgary.
CALGARY — Calgary house prices and sales rose in September compared with a year ago, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.
In releasing its monthly data on Monday, CREA said MLS residential sales in Calgary reached 1,789 units in September, up 11.4 per cent from September 2010 while the average sale price rose by 1.3 per cent on an annual basis to $406,252.
Year-over-year in Alberta, sales rose by 9.7 per cent to 4,316 units while the average price increased by 3.0 per cent to $359,637.
Nationally, MLS sales of 37,760 were up 11.0 per cent from September 2010 and the average price rose by 6.5 per cent to $352,581.
“Canada’s housing market remains stable amid continuing financial market volatility, contributing to Canadians’ confidence in the economy and providing support for Canadian economic growth,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist, in a statement. “Interest rates are expected to remain low for longer, and evidence suggests that recent changes to mortgage regulations are preventing the kind of excesses they were designed to avert. Both of these developments are good news for the housing market.”
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Canadians still looking towards Alberta for employment
Comment – all the in-migration is what caused the home prices to boom form 200k to 400k in 6 months in 2006 and 2007. This is all happening again right now – as noted below.
The outcome will not be prices going to 600k but well priced homes will move quickly and there will be upward price pressure until most of the excess inventory is moved.
Alberta continues to be a draw for people in other parts of the country.
And that’s good news because in recent months there has been more talk about looming labour shortages in the future.
According to Dan Sumner, economist with ATB Financial in Calgary, 4,720 Canadians relocated to Alberta during the second quarter of 2011, largely unchanged from the 5,275 that moved here during the first quarter. But Alberta is on pace for about 20,000 net-interprovincial migrants in 2011, which if achieved will be the highest annual pace for net interprovincial migration since 2006.
Sumner says the largest net migration gain in the second quarter was from Ontario. Alberta was by far the largest benefactor of net-interprovincial migration in the country with Saskatchewan in second place gaining only 1,239 net migrants.
“Interprovincial migration can be a difficult variable to predict; however, with the unemployment rate lower in Alberta, wages higher, housing prices relatively affordable and the provincial economy expected to grow among the fastest in the country, it’s hard to imagine that more Canadians won’t be calling Alberta home over the near future,” adds Sumner.
“While more skilled workers is essential for the continued development of Alberta’s economy, it also puts pressure on social and institutional resources. As a former premier of this province once stated, ‘when people move to Alberta, they don’t bring their schools and hospitals with them’.”
Alberta repeat home buyers moving on to larger homes
Alberta repeat home buyers moving on to larger homes
This article is EXACTLY what we have been hearing over the last 6 months.
CALGARY — Repeat home buyers in Alberta are moving on to larger or more luxurious homes, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The TD Canada Trust Repeat Home Buyers Report said Albertans are the most likely in the country to feel they compromised on the layout and features of their current home and are not willing to do so again in their next house hunt.
The report, which surveyed Canadians who recently bought or intend to buy a home that is not their first, found that 59 per cent of Alberta repeat buyers are moving on to larger or more luxurious homes. And even though many are upgrading, they are among the least likely to need a mortgage to finance the purchase (58 per cent versus 69 per cent nationally).
“If you are moving because you want more room or certain features in your home, a renovation could be an option to save the expense of moving by making your current home work for you,” said Jessy Bilodeau, Mobile Mortgage Specialists, TD Canada Trust.
The TD Canada Trust Repeat Home Buyers Report found that seven-in-10 Alberta repeat buyers were moving earlier than they expected (40 per cent) or had no intention of moving but now find themselves on the house-hunt again (30 per cent). The number of people intending to buy a home that is not their first in the next two years increased 21 percentage points over 2010 (84 per cent versus 63 per cent in 2010).
The large majority of Albertans (84 per cent) plan to sell their current home before buying a new one. More than one-in-five (22 per cent) say market conditions played a factor in their decision to buy another home and 69 per cent expect to sell their home at or above asking price, said the report.
“The reality is that it’s still a buyers’ market, and homes need to be priced correctly to sell,” said Bilodeau.
Albertans are more likely this year to say they are keeping their current home as a rental property (46 per cent versus 25 per cent last year) or that they will stay in their current home and the new home will be a rental property (41 per cent versus 25 per cent last year).
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Owning a Calgary house more expensive: But still among most affordable in Canada
This is good news for those looking to buy. Prices are stable and affordable.
Owning a home in Calgary became more expensive in the second quarter of this year but housing in the city is one of the most affordable among major cities in Canada, says a report released Monday.
“The long hoped for rebound in the Calgary-area market that appeared to be on track earlier this year lost some momentum in the second quarter,” says the RBC Housing Trends and Affordability report.
“After posting two successive increases, home resales edged down during the April-June period, providing little impetus to prices, which continued to move sideways for the most part.
“With such absence of price pressure, the loss of housing affordability was minimal in the quarter. The RBC measures for the Calgary area rose between 0.4 and 1.1 percentage points, representing a smaller deterioration among major Canadian cities. Owning a home in the area, therefore, continues to be close to the most affordable that it has been in almost six years.”
The RBC Housing Affordability Measure, which has been compiled since 1985, shows the proportion of median pre-tax household income that would be required to service the cost of mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes and utilities. The higher the measure, the more difficult it is to afford a house. For example, an affordability measure of 50 per cent means that home ownership costs take up 50 per cent of a typical household’s pre-tax income.
In the second quarter, Calgary’s measures were 37.1 per cent for a detached bungalow, 38.5 per cent for a standard two-storey, and 23.0 per cent for a standard condominium. The measures increased by 0.6 per cent (bungalow), 1.1. per cent (two-storey) and 0.4 per cent (condo).
However, they are lower than a year ago by 3.1 per cent for a bungalow, 2.9 per cent for a two-storey and 1.6 per cent for a condo.
“Notwithstanding the latest bout of uncertainty, we believe that the strong economic fundamentals of Alberta and Calgary will find their way into the housing market and will support homebuyer demand in the period ahead,” says the report.
RBC says the average bungalow price in Calgary declined by two per cent year-over-year in the second quarter to $411,700 while a two-storey dropped by 1.6 per cent to $415,200 and a condo fell by 1.1 per cent to $249,000.
Sano Stante, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, said prevailing negative economic conditions will restrain any increases in interest rates for awhile.
“Those are increases that we fully expected prior to these events and they’ve now been abated,” said Stante. “That was our biggest risk of deteriorating affordability.
“With an assurance that interest rates are going to stay low for the next 12 months anyway — and there’s somewhat of an assurance — then it really looks like we’re going to lead the nation in affordability especially when we start to get increased employment and in-migration towards the end of this year. That should really lend to a more robust real estate market.”
Robert Hogue, senior economist with RBC, said he too expects Calgary’s affordability to remain about the same.
“Previous to a few weeks ago we expected higher interest rates would start really putting more and more pressure across the board in Canada including in Calgary on the monthly costs of home ownership,” he said. “Now we’ve pushed everything out to the middle of next year.
“For the next few months or quarters I think chances are that affordability is probably will go sideways, the same as the housing market.”
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
A 180 Degree Change in Mortgage Rate Expectations
This last blip in the stock market has taken the wind out of the world’s recovery sails. It now looks like rates are going to stay the same or go DOWN!?! for the 12 months or so.
The USA has said for the 1st time ever that they are not going to change their rates until 2013. They have never given a date in the past and this IS a big deal. It means that Canadian rates are going to have to track closely to the USA rates or our dollar will skyrocket and quickly slow our growth and path to recovery.
That would mean that while fixed rates have NEVER been better in 111-years, variable rates are also super attractive because Prime (P) will now stay close to 3% (where it is today) and the rate of P-8% = 2.2% for a mortgage is CRAZY low now that we know it is going to stay around there for 2 more years!
Call to discuss if you have any questions on this. 403-681-4376: Mark
A 180 Degree Change in Rate Views
- 46% probability of a rate cut Sept. 7.
- 100% probability of a rate cut by year-end.
That’s what prices of closely-followed overnight index swaps (OIS) were implying at the close of business on Monday. OIS trade on market expectations for Bank of Canada rate moves.
That amounts to a 180 degree swing in market psychology. Just a few weeks ago traders were pricing in a rate hike by January.
“As we’ve seen, markets can swing and perception can swing quite aggressively, and we could well be back to a fall expectation [of a rate hike] in a month’s time,” said RBC economist Eric Lascelles to the Globe & Mail.
Lascelles counterpart at Scotiabank, Derek Holt, says: “Any talk of the Bank of Canada hiking this year is just foolish in my opinion.”
Peter Gibson, chief portfolio strategist at CIBC World Markets notes: “I think it’s clear that there are a lot of serious problems still in the world and it’s more likely that we’re setting the stage for a sustainably low level of interest rates for a very long time.”
And that is the takeaway here.
Despite the roller coaster of emotions as of late, this about-face in rate assumptions reminds us of the necessity to focus on long-term trends. Long-term, North America’s prognosis still seems compatible with low-growth and low-inflation. That’s an environment where fixed mortgage rates typically underperform.
Too Big To Fail
Too Big To Fail
This is a re-post of a great blurb by Boris Bozic, President of MERIX, a broker only lender. He is a pretty smart gent and his light and direct points are worth the 3 minutes it takes to read this.
28 Jun
This was a term we were all too familiar with back in August and September of 2008. It is also the name of a new HBO movie which chronicles what transpired at the beginning of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown. HBO assembled an outstanding cast, and given the subject matter the movie was rather entertaining. I would highly recommend watching the movie. It is a good reminder to all of us that the term boom and bust is as applicable today as it always has been.
In typical Hollywood fashion, a liberal bias amounting to revisionist history, the movie tried to blame George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan for the meltdown, and all other evil things. The truth is you can go back to the Jimmy Carter administration, and the passing of the Community and Reinvestment Act. That work of art stated that home ownership was a right, and not a privilege. This is where the slippery slope began. Then old Slick Willie, aka “which way are the political winds blowing today because that’s what I’ll stand for”, Bill Clinton, put that program on steroids. Suffice to say the responsibility for the meltdown, and the nuclear fueling of the problem, is equal parts Republican and Democratic.
The movie is a great reminder of how perilously close we came to an economic meltdown. How our standard of living was at the precipice. If you think this is hyperbole, because this was really a US issue, the reality is that this carcinogen (sub-prime mortgages) infected world markets. I can’t help but to think about the auto worker in Windsor and Detroit, the welder in Germany, the machinist in France, all, asking the same question: “Tell me again why my pension has taken a hit because of some mortgage problem?” No one from Wall Street could explain what happened in laymen terms. The average person cares little about default swaps, derivatives and mortgage-backed securities. All the layman cares about is finding out who the hell let this happen. That question has still gone unanswered.
The movie doesn’t deal with the who. The movie played up of the part about the moral dilemma the government faced. Who did the government decide to bail out, AIG, and who did they allow to fail, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. All very fascinating and dramatic. But after watching the movie I couldn’t help but ask myself the following question: “How the hell has no one gone to prison over this?” I’m all for a free market system, and the pursuit of wealth, but reckless endangerment of our economy and standard of living should not go unpunished. There were individuals and institutions who knew full well they were passing on toxic assets. They were passing on the risk so they didn’t care. They could care less about the consequences. Yet none of the perpetrators of this ingenious fraud has ever been charged or convicted. You would think at least a couple of them should be experiencing the joys of being passed around in prison for a carton of smokes.
New Virtual Closings for lawyers – the next thing on the way
Innovation In Unlikely Places – Introducing V-Close by Vanguard Law Group
- Sunday, 26 June 2011 13:42
Change is often the end result of something. Once in a while, change is introduced to create not only new results, but an entirely new direction.
Enter V-Close, the new virtual document signing service, for clients needing to sign documentation for a Real Estate purchase or sale transaction, born not only from the evolution of technology, but of an understanding of the preferences of the market for convenience, over all other benefits.
Innovation in Unlikely Places
Sanjay Soni, Managing Partner with Vanguard Law Group, recognizes the irony of the wave of change coming from a law group. In fact, the company’s tag line reflects the tongue in cheek nature of the birth place of this evolution: “Innovative Law Firm? Oxymoron? Not Anymore!”
Soni explains: “People are used to technology and access to information in certain parts of the economy, and in certain services. They are not used to it when it comes to legal services- in fact it is quite the opposite. “
“When people think of law firms, technology and innovation is not what comes to their head. We are going after a market that we think is quite untapped. Technology is around you all the time, every day- but when you think about having to go into a lawyer’s office that is not what comes in to your head.”
Much like in the Real Estate and Mortgage Industries, for Soni clients are not only who you do business with, they are why you are doing business at all, and refers to this as the impetus for the advances they have made “My philosophy is very simple: Unless you get clients, you don’t get paid…We wanted to bring a customer centric focus to a law firm… How do we do this? How do we make clients feel like they are getting value out of what they pay for, and really mean it?”
So then, in these client-centric industries, it is about understanding the value of an offering, and making the client aware of it.
What is V-Close?
Education and understanding are some of the cornerstones of communication- necessary for any productive relationship. For Real Estate and Mortgage Professionals, the question might be, why this service, and how does it work- so that they can support clients in weighing their options.
It’s simple really. For a fee comparable to traditional document signing, you essentially sit in your living room, or whatever location suits you, at a designated time, and await the arrival of the Commissioner of Oath.
Says Soni,” The way it works is that we have a secure video link between ourselves, and one of our remote commissioning agents. All of our commissioning agents are Commissioners of Oath, registered with the Attorney General’s office to Vanguard Law Group. “
“They have very modern laptops with dual flat screens. They go into a client’s home after an appointment has been set up. They will turn on their computers and establish a secure wireless link with our central office here in Mississauga, and at that point the clients can see me, and I can see them, and we go over the purchase or sale documents together. Once I’ve finished the explanation of a specific page, we get the clients to sign on a physical piece of paper that the commissioners have with them at the time of signing.”
Demographic Spread
One challenge that Realtors and Mortgage Professionals encounter is a one-size-fits all attitude to technology, as well to servicing the needs of their clients from different generations. Different generations have different needs, understanding, comfort level and expectations when it comes to technology.
What is common among clients though, is the appeal of an idea that they are empowered to pick and choose service in a location and a time that puts them first.
What is unique about this product is that it appeals across generations, for different reasons, as Soni points out, and the limitations from a demographic point of few are few. “We look at every individual who is over 19 as a customer, which is kind of neat. As long as you are selling, refinancing or purchasing a home, we have the service for you.”
This is demographic reach in action, with seniors happy that they don’t have to venture out of their homes (often a challenge for the most hale and hearty with Canadian winters), and for Gen X & Gen Y, they are drawn in by the technology itself.
“This is for every client. We’ve seen that the older demographic may not be into computers so much, however, they are into convenience. They actually understand the value of this to their time. The trade-off from the technology perspective is really their busy lives, and the convenience that this offers. “
“For the younger demographic, they may be first time homebuyers, so they may not realize the hassle involved with going into a lawyer’s office, but they get it from a technology perspective. “
Convenience is the catalyst
Pick an industry, any industry, and you will see clear evidence of evolution driven by delivering customers what they want. And in this age of instant information and convenient access to just about everything at hours that suit consumers, it only makes sense to be open for business when business is there.
To really understand a clients’ needs and wants, one must almost break down processes, working backwards, to understand its’ genesis- rather than just simply trying to market the end result.
As Soni agrees, when you start and finish with the client’s needs, the possibilities are profound.
“I think there is much broader application with what we are doing than just the legal industry… We’re not springing into different areas, but I had a meeting with my accountant the other day to sign paperwork, and the thought went through my head, why am I in your office? I’m signing this paperwork- I can be signing this on the bottom screen, while I can see you on the top screen.”
“There are tremendous implications here, if people think about what they do, and they break down the process of what they are doing and look at what the technological substitute might be, I think there is very wide application in the Real Estate Industry. Anywhere where you need to sign a piece of paper, it should be in an electronic format- and if you need to consult with someone, then you can basically do what we are doing.”
Soni says too, that they have begun to build upon their own design.” We have realized that we have the infrastructure in place- we can actually now create a draft will, based on a checklist, and send it to the customer and then go over the final doing exactly the same process- so now you can do a will at the same time as you are signing mortgage documentation.”
Bricks and Mortar Optional
Part of introducing and selling change, is dealing with objections- and objections and scepticism are not uncommon, especially in the areas of technology- as many consumers are afraid of things like fraud, identity theft and of compromising personal information.
Soni suggests that one must recognize these objections, and address them gently, offering alternatives, and assures too that in theory, there are no differences between a traditional document signing, and a V-Close.
“There is no difference on the other side. If they need to ask questions, they ask questions. If identification needs to be taken, it’s taken by the commissioning agents.
Everything is recorded, which actually enhances the process. From a fraud perspective, it is actually better, we think, than the process today. The Commissioner is key in all of this… We can basically replicate the experience from the office in your own home.”
What’s in it for Realtors?
In this competitive industry, Realtors are always trying to boost value in their relationships with their clients, as a means of standing out from the crowd. Soni says that V-Close offers an opportunity to do just that: “The value add for the agent is to say- You are busy people…Here is a law firm that not only has the technology, but will actually make it easier for you, where you don’t have to take any time off of work, or you don’t have to take any time in the evening… the experience that they have will be
unrivalled by other experiences that they might have- and that is simply based on their busy lives, and the conveniences that we offer.”
Service comes down to facilitation and ease, and Soni gives an example:”Last week- we had an actual signing in two cities at the same time. Father and Son were both on title on the home. The father was in Ottawa, the son was in Toronto. We had two Commissions at the same time, one in Ottawa, one in Toronto- and then I linked them in on my screen. They signed in two cities at the same time, and I did the explanation to both of them. ”
In client-centric business, sometimes there are challenges in meeting clients needs, and in coming up with new ways to over deliver- in ways that the client does not even expect. What this opportunity represents is a chance to give more to your clients, by anticipating their needs before they do. In knowing about the options, and presenting them with a solution that they don’t expect, perhaps because they don’t even know the technology exists, you communicate your own value, and set your service apart.
Canadian economy still near the top of G7
Great news below for anyone thinking of buying their 1st home, an investment property or worried about their job.
OTTAWA – Canada will continue to outperform most economically advanced countries over the next two years, even as the pace slows and risks mount, the IMF says.
The International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast presents Canada as a relative sea of tranquility amid rising global turbulence from European and U.S. debt issues, the aftermath of Japan’s natural disasters, and growing inflationary pressures.
This will result in growth in advanced countries of about 2.5 per cent this year, it says, about half a point lower than last year. And emerging economies as a group will suffer a one-point drop in growth to 6.5 per cent.
As well, the downside risks to the outlook have risen sharply since the IMF’s previous report in April.
“The balance of risks point down more,” it says. “Downside risks due to heightened potential spillovers from other further deterioration in market confidence in the euro area periphery have risen. Market concerns about possible setbacks to the U.S. recovery have also surfaced.
The report doesn’t mention Greece by name but the potential for its government to default on its massive debts — amid public opposition to austerity measures required by its lenders — have been unsettling financial markets.
“If these risks materialize, they will reverberate across the rest of the world — possibly seriously impairing funding conditions for banks and corporations in advanced economies and undercutting capital flows to emerging economies,” it adds.
Despite this, the international financial organization sees Canada trundling along with 2.9 per cent growth this year, and 2.6 per cent next, virtually unchanged since its previous forecast. Those numbers are also identical to the Bank of Canada’s call, made in April.
The projections are in line with a new forecast from the TD Bank, which also sees the global economy slowing but Canada hanging on with 2.8 per cent and 2.5 per cent growth rates this year and next.
Among G7 nations, the IMF sees only Germany doing better with an expected 3.2 per cent expansion this year, but slowing to two per cent next year.
All the forecasters point to a soft spot in the economy occurring at this very moment, in part due to supply-chain disruptions from the Japan disaster.
For Canada, the lull will result in the economy slowing to just over one per cent during this current quarter, from a strong 3.9 per cent in the first three months of 2011.
Friday’s Statistics Canada report that wholesale fell 0.3 per cent in April, in volume terms, adds to the narrative of a struggling economy.
However, the vast majority of analysts view the lull as temporary.
“The fundamental drivers of growth remain in place: overall still-accommodative macroeconomic conditions, pent-up demand for consumer durables and investment, and strong potential growth in emerging and developing economies,” concludes the IMF analysts.
The big change in the report is the IMF’s alarm about future risks. It makes clear the world has come out of the recession, but is not all the way out of the woods yet.
It warns of a heightened potential for negative consequences from the European debt crisis, and fiscal hangovers in the U.S. and Japan.
The IMF says the two economic powerhouses must get their fiscal houses in order.
“For the United States, it is critical to immediately address the debt ceiling and launch a deficit reduction plan that includes entitlement reform and revenue-raising tax reform,” the group says, offering the same advice to Japan.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty offered a similar assessment in a speech in New York, warning that not only America’s economy would be impacted by failure to address the problem, but Canada’s and the world’s.
The Canadian Press http://www.therecord.com/news/business/article/549522–canadian-economy-still-near-the-top-of-g7
Mark Herman in the press on high-end properties selling quickly
High-flying stock market sends business to brokers Lingering caution at the big banks and wealthy clients increasingly bullish on the stock market are helping brokers claim their biggest share of high-end deals in years – with a Re/Max study helping explain the phenomenon.
By Vernon Clement Jones
Mortgagebrokernews.ca
Lingering caution at the big banks and wealthy clients increasingly bullish on the stock market are helping brokers claim their biggest share of high-end deals in years – with a Re/Max study helping explain the phenomenon.
“In the last week, we’ve just had two of the biggest deals of my career,” Mark Herman, an agent and team leader for Mortgage Alliance Mortgages Are Marvelous Inc. in Calgary, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “One was a new purchase for $1.525 million, with 5% down, and the other one was for a $750,000 line of credit on a $1.5 million purchase. High-end mortgage business for brokers in Calgary has picked up like we’ve never seen.”
Calgary brokers may not be alone.
Re/Max examined 12 major centres from coast-to-coast and found that luxury sales surged in two-thirds of them during the first four months of 2011, compared to the same period last year.
While Vancouver led in terms of percentage increases – 118% year over year – Dartmouth, at 27%, Winnipeg, 24%, Hamilton-Burlington, 13%, and Greater Toronto, 9%, also saw spikes.
Herman’s market of Calgary was also on that list, at 51%, although that scorching hot performance fell short of setting a new record, unlike the other top jurisdictions on the list. With the exception of Vancouver, their sales growth can be chalked up to domestic buyers.
Michael Polzler, executive vice president for Re/Max in Ontario-Atlantic Canada, pointed to three key factors for the rise in high-end business: equity gains, stock market recovery, and improved economic performance.
Brokers like Herman are pointing to the some of the same factors to explain why they’re getting more high-net-worth clients stepping across their thresholds.
“These guys weren’t buying as much during the recession, but with prices still below recent highs, high-end buyers are now out bargain shopping,” said the mortgage agent, also an MBA.
“But what they’re doing is they’re looking to keep their money in the stock market and other high-yield investments and want to buy homes with as little money down as possible – it’s all about limiting opportunity costs. Also they’re coming to brokers this time because they’re finding the banks have been slower to ease credit and aren’t giving them the discounted rates they expect.”
Less than five months into 2011, another broker, Sharnjit Gill, has already surpassed last year’s total for high-value deals.
“We’re also seeing more activity there because those clients are more educated about what we as brokers can do for them beyond rate,” he told MortgageBrokerNews.ca.
Still the trend is less obvious at other mortgage brokerages, even in those markets highlighted by the Re/Max report.
While her Ottawa brokerage has seen an uptick in volume, said Kim McKenney, senior VP at Dominion Lending Centres The Mortgage Source.
“The average dollar amount has risen by only a couple of thousands of dollars,” she told MortgageBrokerNews.ca.
Mortgagebrokernews.ca is a division of KMI Media.
New-to-Canada mortgages for immigrants have been around for years!
Do you want to read some total BS-PR-spin that the banks put out? Below is a press release from a bank patting themselves on the bank for lending to new immigrants. Funny thing is that this program that they have “developed” has been around for more than 7 years. All they did was sign up for the CMHC New to Canada program that every other lender that we use has had since I started doing this in 2004! Good job ING. Way to do what every one else is doing. Many years late.
Getting a mortgage in this country may have just gotten slightly easier.
ING Direct Bank, recognizing the overwhelming desire for most Canadians, particularly with newcomers to the country, to realize the dream of home ownership is modifying its’ lending criteria.
In a release, ING Direct Bank said, “ING DIRECT, the country’s 6th largest mortgage lender, announced today it is offering its popular unmortgage to permanent and non-permanent residents with limited or no credit history. Permanent and non-permanent residents include those who have been residing in Canada for no longer than 60 months. “
ING Direct recognizes the sheer numbers and the tremendous influence that immigration plays- not just in the makeup of the Canadian population, but in the marketplace as well. As such, they are developing product to meet that need.
“At ING DIRECT, our goal has always been to give the power of saving to all Canadians, so offering our unmortgage to new residents allows us to stay true to that promise,” said Peter Aceto, President and CEO of ING DIRECT Canada. “We want to give newcomers access to the same products and savings opportunities we have been providing to Canadians for the last 14 years”
Motivated by the desire to establish a banking relationship right from day one with newcomers to this country, ING Direct jumped into action to provide a solution for people trying to establish their credit history.
Aceto says, “We have always been committed to making the mortgage experience better for our clients. For newcomers to Canada, our product is simple and easy to understand. We always provide the best rates upfront and guarantee those rates for up to 120 days after applying, and our flexible pre-payment options allow our clients to own their homes sooner by paying as little interest as possible over the life of the mortgage.”
Canada is known globally for its’ stringent lending policies- which are partly to thank for escaping the recent recession relatively unscathed.
While qualifying for a mortgage may have loosened slightly, it is likely not a sign that credit criteria is less stringent generally. Qualifying for a mortgage , while taking credit history into account, generally has some different criteria, because it is as much about the asset that is securing the debt, and the amount of cash available to pay for ongoing expenses.