Wednesday, March 10, 2010
MORTGAGE RULES changes by Federal Government
The federal government has announced changes to the rules for government-backed insured mortgages (less than 20 percent down payment) as follows:
All borrowers will be required to meet the standards for a five-year fixed rate mortgage even if they choose a mortgage with a lower interest rate and shorter terms.
Reduced maximum amount that can be withdrawn in refinancing a government-backed insured mortgage to 90 per cent from 95 per cent of the value of the home.
Require a minimum down payment of 20 per cent for government-backed mortgage insurance on non-owner occupied properties purchased for speculation. Borrowers purchasing owner-occupied residential properties will still be able to access government-backed mortgage insurance with a 5 per cent down payment.
For more information please contact A. Mark Argentino
A. Mark Argentino, Broker, P.Eng.,
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage
2691 Credit Valley Road, Suite 101, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 7A1
BUS. 905-828-3434
FAX. 905-828-2829
E-MAIL: mark@mississauga4sale.com
Website: Mississauga4Sale.com
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
RBC is suggesting some caution be exercised with regards to the global economy
Here is their report:
The consensus view that the global recovery has legs appears to be building after stronger than expected fourth-quarter growth data from some major economies. Dampening the mood among global investors, however, are worries about sovereign debt ratings and uncertainty surrounding the effect of upcoming regulatory reforms.
In most countries, central banks are implementing a gradual withdrawal of stimulus through the unwinding of either liquidity or credit programs. In Australia, the RBA restarted its rate normalization program earlier this week as worries about recent
rate hikes negatively affecting the economy proved to be unfounded. In Canada, the Bank held the policy rate steady and reiterated a commitment to hold it steady until the end of the second quarter of 2010.
It also acknowledged that the economy had strengthened in the final quarter of 2009 and the core inflation rate was running hotter than expected. To our mind, these changes along with the dropping of any reference to further easing signal that the Bank is preparing to start the process of rate normalization this summer.
Caution!
South of the Canadian border, some Fed members exercised a significant degree of caution when discussing the outlook over the past month. FOMC members appear to have gone out of their way to reign in expectations of rate hikes by keeping the focus on the unwinding of liquidity and credit provisions.
The mid-February announcement of a 25 basis point increase in the discount rate was presented as being part of the program toward, “further normalization of the Federal Reserve’s lending facilities.” This sentiment was echoed by the Fed’s Duke who said the discount rate change did not “signal any change in the outlook for monetary policy.” U.S. policymakers have read more here:
For more information please contact A. Mark Argentino
A. Mark Argentino, Broker, P.Eng.,
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage
2691 Credit Valley Road, Suite 101, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 7A1
BUS. 905-828-3434
FAX. 905-828-2829
E-MAIL: mark@mississauga4sale.com
Website: Mississauga4Sale.com
Monday, March 08, 2010
Technorati Claim Blog
For more information please contact A. Mark Argentino
A. Mark Argentino, Broker, P.Eng.,
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage
2691 Credit Valley Road, Suite 101, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 7A1
BUS. 905-828-3434
FAX. 905-828-2829
E-MAIL: mark@mississauga4sale.com
Website: Mississauga4Sale.com
Bank of Canada prime rate predictions and expectations
It would be almost expected that the prime interest rate will increase by about 25 to 50 basis points by September and maybe even during their next meeting in July 20 by 25 points and then again in September by 25 points.
The 'experts' are saying will be up a whole 1 percentage by the end of this year.
This means that if your mortgage is coming due sometime this year, you may wish to renew sooner rather than later if you want to lock in at today's rates.
Personally, I am staying short term for the next few years. The reason is that as long as I have a mortgage that is prime minus .25% or so, then the variable rate must increase to at least about 5% before my mortgage rate is equal to the current 3 to 5 year rate. This may take more than 2 or 3 years to happen and I will benefit during that period with a lower rate rather than locking in today.
Even if the prime consumer lending rate increases from the current 2.25% to 4.5% or higher in 2 years from now I am still ahead of the game. If it rises to 5.5% in 3 years, I believe there will be rate specials offered in the marketplace and I will still be able to achieve in the mid to high 4% range in 3 or 4 years from today. This all means that I am still better to stay short and with the variable rate from now for at least the next few years.
You may feel differently, and only time will tell, but I believe that this will save me money in the long run.
All the best!
Mark
Sunday, March 07, 2010
First post since blogger migration
For more information please contact A. Mark Argentino
A. Mark Argentino, Broker, P.Eng.,
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage
2691 Credit Valley Road, Suite 101, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 7A1
BUS. 905-828-3434
FAX. 905-828-2829
E-MAIL: mark@mississauga4sale.com
Website: Mississauga4Sale.com
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Saturday, March 06, 2010
Blooger via ftp is changing, this is a test post
See you soon on the other side!
For more information please contact A. Mark Argentino
A. Mark Argentino, Broker, P.Eng.,
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage
2691 Credit Valley Road, Suite 101, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 7A1
BUS. 905-828-3434
FAX. 905-828-2829
E-MAIL: mark@mississauga4sale.com
Website: Mississauga4Sale.com
Thursday, March 04, 2010
March TREB results for February 2010 - Toronto Real Estate Board figures shows that our real estate market is very strong!
GTA REALTORS® REPORT FEBRUARY RESALE HOUSING MARKET FIGURES
TORONTO, March 3, 2010 –
Greater Toronto REALTORS® reported 7,291 sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in February, representing a 77 per cent increase over February 2009.
The average price for these transactions was up 19 per cent year-over-year to $431,509.
Sales and average price increases represent both increased demand for ownership housing and the base year effect, which involves a comparison of economic recovery this year to a period of economic decline last year.
“Increases in existing home sales and average price were noted across the GTA in low-rise and high-rise home types. Similar rates of growth were experienced in the City of Toronto and surrounding 905 regions,” said TREB President Tom Lebour. “This suggests that first time, move-up and down sizing buyers are all active in the existing home marketplace.”
New listings also increased in February, climbing 24 per cent compared to the same month last year.
“Annual growth in new listings is expected to continue.
New listings growth will start to outstrip sales growth as we move through 2010,” said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Senior Manager of Market Analysis. “As the market becomes better supplied, we will see more sustainable single-digit rates of price growth
For more information please contact A. Mark Argentino
A. Mark Argentino, Broker, P.Eng.,
Specializing in Residential & Investment Real Estate
RE/MAX Realty Specialists Inc., Brokerage
2691 Credit Valley Road, Suite 101, Mississauga, Ontario L5M 7A1
BUS. 905-828-3434
FAX. 905-828-2829
E-MAIL: mark@mississauga4sale.com
Website: Mississauga4Sale.com
If you are for rent and for sale at same time on MLS, does this hurt you?
Hi Mark,
My question is this;
If a residential property is available for lease or sale, whichever occurs first, and is being handled by a real estate agent, is there a tendency for said agent to hold out and discourage the lease prospect if it occurred first in favour of a potential sale at a later date?
I would greatly appreciate a response from you.
Best Regards,
Frank
Monday, March 01, 2010
Does bank remove appliances and chattels when a property sells under Power of Sale?
A reader wrote:
I am reading your Power of Sale information with interest. In the case of a home with the owner living in it, what happens with normal things that go with a house, for example appliances, window coverings, light fixtures?
Would those be stripped by the old owner, negotiated or left behind?
Thank you,
Allison
Hello Allison,
Thank you for your real estate inquiry. Every POS property is different.
Usually, the owner just abandons the property and leaves it as is. Most often the appliances, light fixtures and window coverings are present and stay with the property. If the property was a grow house, the appliances may have to be disposed of.
Since the owner is locked out of the property once the property is under power of sale, they have no method of 'legally' entering the property and recovering the appliances, so they almost always are there upon closing.
Usually, once a property has gone power of sale, the owner has moved out and on with their lives and trying to get back on their feet after or during this time they typically declare bankruptcy, but not always.
I've only seen one property under power of sale where the owner was still in the property. It was a unique situation where there was mortgage fraud involved, so the owner was not at fault and only stayed until closing. I've seen a few cases where there is a tenant present in the property and this seriously complicates the entire sale and also puts appliances and other chattels in jeopardy of being present upon closing or not.
The bank selling the property under POS will not warrant that the appliances (or any chattels) are included with the sale, but they will not remove them either. The bank wants the sale to go through, they write off any losses, may go after the previous owner for any deficit (as long as the owner has not declared bankruptcy) and move on.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions or if there is anything else I can help you with.
Thank you again for contacting me and I will do my best to help you with your real estate needs,
Mark
A. Mark Argentino
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