Friday, June 22, 2012

New Mortgage Guidelines in Canada as per Finance Minister Jim Flaherty June 21 2012

Hello, This is a Summary of changes to mortgage guidelines as per Finance
Minister Jim Flaherty...(effective July 9th, 2012)



1) The maximum amortization period for purchases with less than a 20% down
payment will be 25 years (down from 30 years)

2) Home owners will only be able to refinance their homes up to 80% of the
home's value (down from 85%)

3) The government is also resetting the maximum Gross Debt Servicing ratio
(GDS) to 39% and the Total Debt Servicing ratio (TDS) to 44% (Currently, GDS
does not apply to qualified borrowers with credit scores of 680+) ***see
below for info GDS and TDS

4) Mortgage Insurance will no longer be available of homes over $1 million
(you will need to have at least 20% down payment)



OSFI (The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada is
the primary regulator and supervisor of federally regulated deposit-taking
institutions



Also announced the following changes...

1) The maximum loan to value on home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) is
cut to 65% from 80%

2) The loan to value will be re-calculated upon any refinancing and
whenever the lender deems prudent

3) HELOCs will continue to serve as revolving lines of credit with no
specific amortization period. However, OSFI says lenders must now expect
borrowers to have the ability to fully repay HELOCs over time.



Debt Ratios (GDS / TDS Ratios)

Lenders have long relied on two standard measures of one's "ability to pay"
their mortgage:



Gross Debt Service (GDS): The percentage of the borrower's income that is
needed to pay all required monthly housing costs (mortgage payments,
property taxes, heat and 50% of condo fees).



Total Debt Service (TDS): The percentage of the borrower's income that is
needed to cover housing costs (GDS) plus any other monthly obligations that
an individual has, such as credit card payments and car payments.

The acceptable ratios for both have generally been 32% and 40% respectively.

For people with very high credit scores, GDS requirements are often waived
and the TDS maximum is slightly higher (44% as of January 2011).

I hope this finds you Happy and Healthy!

All the Best!

Mark

A. Mark Argentino
P. Eng. Broker
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.
Providing Full-Time Professional Real Estate Services since 1987
BUS 905-828-3434
FAX 905-828-2829 CELL 416-520-1577
mark@mississauga4sale.com
Mississauga4Sale.com

* Thinking of selling your home in the next 3 to 6 months? Would you
like a Complimentary & Quick Over-The-Net Home Evaluation ?
www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm


* Power of Sales and Foreclosures
www.mississauga4sale.com/Power-Sales-Bank-Sales-Alert-Request.htm


* If you have not already signed up to receive my monthly real estate
newsletter, you may do so here: On-Line Real Estate Newsletter sign up
www.mississauga4sale.com/popupquestion.htm


* See seasonal housing patterns
www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm


* Would you like me to send you a desk or wall Calendar?
www.mississauga4sale.com/Calendar-Order-Form.htm

Thursday, June 21, 2012

GTA REALTORSR Report Mid-Month Resale Housing Market Figures

Below is the mid month report from the Toronto Real Estate board regarding
sales in the GTA

Summary


* Sales activity is flat compared to June of last year
* Sales price was up over 8% from last year

This is the entire report below


GTA REALTORS(r) Report Mid-Month Resale Housing Market Figures

TORONTO, June 18, 2012 - Greater Toronto REALTORS(r) reported 4,597 sales
through the first 14 days of June - a result that was on par with the strong
sales activity reported in the June 2011 mid-month release. While sales were
flat on a year-over-year basis, the total number of new listings entered
into the TorontoMLS system was up by 16 per cent to 8,382.

"Sales growth continued to be much stronger outside of the City of Toronto
in the first half of June. While higher average home prices and slower
listings growth in the City of Toronto likely explain some of the disparity
in sales growth, recent polling suggests that the City of Toronto's Land
Transfer Tax is having a substantial impact on where many households are
looking to buy," said Toronto Real Estate Board President Richard Silver.

"Recent polling indicated that three-quarters of people in Toronto and
surrounding 905 regions who are planning to move over the next two years
said that they are more likely to move outside of Toronto specifically
because of the added upfront costs associated with the Toronto Land Transfer
Tax," continued Silver.

The average selling price for transactions during the first two weeks of
June was $516,834 - up by over eight per cent compared to the average of
$477,025 reported for the first two weeks of June 2011.

"The annual rate of price growth remains very high in the GTA. Increased
listings will result in more balanced market conditions over the next year,
but it will take some time before price growth will moderate to a more
sustainable pace. Right now, months of inventory remains very low from a
historic perspective and will likely not climb back to the pre-recession
norm until 2013," said Jason Mercer, TREB's Senior Manager of Market
Analysis.



I hope this finds you Happy and Healthy!

All the Best!

Mark

A. Mark Argentino
P. Eng. Broker
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.
Providing Full-Time Professional Real Estate Services since 1987
BUS 905-828-3434
FAX 905-828-2829 CELL 416-520-1577
mark@mississauga4sale.com
Mississauga4Sale.com

* Thinking of selling your home in the next 3 to 6 months? Would you
like a Complimentary & Quick Over-The-Net Home Evaluation ?
www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm


* Power of Sales and Foreclosures
www.mississauga4sale.com/Power-Sales-Bank-Sales-Alert-Request.htm


* If you have not already signed up to receive my monthly real estate
newsletter, you may do so here: On-Line Real Estate Newsletter sign up
www.mississauga4sale.com/popupquestion.htm


* See seasonal housing patterns
www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm


* Would you like me to send you a desk or wall Calendar?
www.mississauga4sale.com/Calendar-Order-Form.htm

Monday, June 11, 2012

Current mortgage interest rates in the GTA!

Current mortgage interest rates are excellent in the GTA!
See the rates below for samples of what is posted and what you can obtain,
not much better time than now to get a mortgage!
Mark



Best Rates

Terms Posted Rates Our Rates
6 MONTHS 4.45% 4.40%
1 YEAR 3.20% 2.75%
2 YEARS 3.55% 3.09%
3 YEARS 3.95% 3.19%
4 YEARS 4.64% 3.19%
5 YEARS 5.34% 3.14%
7 YEARS 6.35% 3.99%
10 YEARS 6.75% 3.99%
Rates are subject to change without notice. OAC E&OE


CURRENT PRIME RATE IS 3.00%

PRODUCT RATE
Variable Rate Mortgage: 2.90%




I hope this finds you Happy and Healthy!

All the Best!

Mark

A. Mark Argentino
P. Eng. Broker
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc.
Providing Full-Time Professional Real Estate Services since 1987
BUS 905-828-3434
FAX 905-828-2829 CELL 416-520-1577
mark@mississauga4sale.com
Mississauga4Sale.com

* Thinking of selling your home in the next 3 to 6 months? Would you
like a Complimentary & Quick Over-The-Net Home Evaluation ?
www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm


* Power of Sales and Foreclosures
www.mississauga4sale.com/Power-Sales-Bank-Sales-Alert-Request.htm


* If you have not already signed up to receive my monthly real estate
newsletter, you may do so here: On-Line Real Estate Newsletter sign up
www.mississauga4sale.com/popupquestion.htm


* See seasonal housing patterns
www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm


* Would you like me to send you a desk or wall Calendar?
www.mississauga4sale.com/Calendar-Order-Form.htm