You can save money when comparing the 1 year and 5 year mortgage interest rates

Hello from Fabulous Mississauga!

Interest rates are always on people's minds.

See the graph and read more online at this page

A very interesting relationship is between the 1 year and 5 year mortgage interest rates compared over time. 

People often ask me if they should choose the short term rates or lock in for the long term rates with their mortgage. 

The answer is not simple and often depends upon your personal situation and your risk tolerance, read more about locking in your mortgage for the long or short term. 

The graph below shows you the difference between the 1 year rate and the 5 year rate. The wider the gap, the more opportunity for you to save money by having a short term mortgage.  This may give you some insight into what you may wish to do by comparing the difference between the short and long term rates over the past decade or so and how the difference fluctuates.

See the graph and read more online at this page

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 ?
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm
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• 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
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Toronto and GTA Home Sales Again at Record Highs for April 2016

Hello from Fabulous Mississauga!

Home sale were at record heights again last month in the GTA

Highlights of the latest report from TREB for the Residential Real Estate Market in the GTA

• The Average price for last month was $739,082 (it was $688,181 the previous month) and this represents aver a 16.2% increase compared to the same month last year- see graph of prices here
•  Sales volumes were 12,085 (it was 10,326 last month) and this an 7.4% increase from the same month last year 
•  The 2015 calendar year total number of sales was 101,299 – a substantial 9.2 per cent increase compared to 2014 as a whole
•  There were 22,575 sales in the first quarter of 2016 and the year-over-year growth rate for sales was 15.8 per cent for Q1 2016.
•  The Bank of Canada Prime Lending Rate now stands at 2.70% steady (since July 2015) 

 See more at this page about average prices and read the TREB full price and data report below.

Read the full report below

See graphs of prices at this page

Record Home Sales in April

TORONTO, May 4, 2016 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced that there were 12,085 sales reported through TREB’s MLS® System in April 2016. This result, which represented a record for the month of April, was up by 7.4 per cent in comparison to April 2015.

For the TREB market area as a whole, annual sales growth was experienced for all major home types except semi-detached houses. In the City of Toronto, sales were down for detached and semi-detached houses as well as townhouses on a year-over-year basis.

This dip in sales in the ‘416’ area code was due to a lack of low-rise listings. Many would-be buyers were not able to find a home that met their needs.

“While April’s sales result represented a new record for sales, that number could have been even higher if we had benefitted from more supply. In the City of Toronto in particular, some households have chosen not to list their home for sale because of the second substantial Land Transfer Tax and associated administration fee.

The lack of available inventory, coupled with record sales, continued to translate into robust annual rates of price growth,” said Mr. McLean.

Home selling prices continued to trend upward in April. The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by 12.6 per cent year-over-year.

The average selling price was up by 16.2 per cent. The higher growth rate reported for the average home price, as compared to the MLS® HPI, points to a greater share of high-end home sales this year compared to last.

“As we move into the busiest time of the year, in terms of sales volume, strong competition between buyers will continue to push home prices higher. A greater supply of listings would certainly be welcome, but we would need to see a number of consecutive months in which listings growth outpaced sales growth before market

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 ?
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm
• Power of Sales and Foreclosureshttp://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
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/popupquestion.htm
• See seasonal housing patternshttp://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm

Bank of Canada Leaves interest rate at 0.5%

The Bank of Canada announced on April 13 2016 that they would be leaving the overnight lending rate at 0.5%

This means that consumer lending rates should remain the same.

The bank prime rate that banks charge to the consumer remains at 2.70%

Read more about definition of rates

Below is, in part, what the Bank of Canada Announced on Wednesday April 13 2016:

The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent.

Growth in the global economy is expected to strengthen gradually from about 3 per cent in 2016 to 3 1/2 per cent in 2017-18, a weaker outlook than the Bank had projected in its January Monetary Policy Report (MPR). After a slow start to 2016, the US economy is expected to regain momentum, but with a lower profile and a composition that is less favourable for Canadian exports. Financial conditions have improved, partly in response to expectations of more accommodative monetary policy in some major economies.

Prices of oil and other commodities are off their earlier lows and slightly above levels assumed by the Bank in January, but remain well below historical averages. Nonetheless, the Bank expects deeper cuts to investment in Canada’s energy sector than were forecast in January. Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar has firmed, reflecting shifting expectations for monetary policy in Canada and the United States, as well as recent increases in commodity prices.

The Canadian economy’s complex structural adjustment to the oil price shock is ongoing and will dampen growth throughout the Bank’s projection horizon. First-quarter GDP growth appears to have been unexpectedly strong, but some of that strength is due to temporary factors and is likely to reverse in the second quarter. Still, it does appear that the positive forces at work in the economy are starting to outweigh those that are negative. Non-resource exports are expected to strengthen, but their profile is weaker than previously projected, in part because of slower foreign demand growth and the higher Canadian dollar. The economy continues to create net new employment, especially in services, despite job losses in resource-intensive regions. In this context, household spending continues to expand moderately. While business investment is still shrinking due to sizeable declines in the energy sector, it is expected to turn positive later this year. The complex adjustment figures importantly in the Bank’s annual review of the economy’s potential, which has resulted in a lower estimated range for potential output growth.

Read full report by the bank here

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 ?
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm
• Power of Sales and Foreclosureshttp://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
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/popupquestion.htm
• See seasonal housing patternshttp://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm

Residential Real Estate Market in the GTA April 2016 Highlights of the latest report from TREB

Greetings from Fabulous Mississauga!

Highlights of the latest report from TREB for the Residential Real Estate Market in the GTA

• The Average price for last month was $688,181 (it was $685,278 the previous month) and this represents aver a 12.1% increase compared to the same month last year- see graph of prices here
• Sales volumes were 10,326 (it was 7,621 last month) and this an 15.8% increase from the same month last year
• The 2015 calendar year total number of sales was 101,299 – a substantial 9.2 per cent increase compared to 2014 as a whole
• There were 22,575 sales in the first quarter of 2016 and the year-over-year growth rate for sales was 15.8 per cent for Q1 2016.
   
• The Bank of Canada Prime Lending Rate now stands at 2.70% steady (since July 2015) read more

See the full report and Graphs of Latest Prices here

Strong Growth in Home Sales in March/Q1

TORONTO, April 5, 2016 – Toronto Real Estate Board President Mark McLean announced record TREB MLS® home sales for the first quarter of 2016 following a strong result for March transactions.

There were 10,326 sales in March and 22,575 sales in the first quarter.

The year-over-year growth rate for sales was 15.8 per cent for Q1 2016 and 16.2 per cent for March 2016. For the TREB market area as a whole, double-digit year-over-year rates of sales growth were experienced for all major home types during the first quarter.

The positive annual growth in sales was not mirrored on the listings front. The number of new listings entered into TREB's MLS® System during March and the first quarter were down compared to the same periods in 2015.

“At the beginning of 2016, TREB’s outlook for the year pointed to a strong possibility of a second consecutive record year for home sales. This outlook was based, in part, on upbeat consumer survey results pointing to robust home buying intentions. It is clear that these upbeat intentions have translated into record first quarter results,” said Mr. McLean.

The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark for March 2016 was up by 11.6 per cent compared to March 2015.

The average selling price for all home types combined was up 12.1 per cent year-over-year in March and 13.6 per cent in the first quarter.

“Demand was clearly not an issue in the first three months of 2016, regardless of the housing market segment being considered. The supply of listings, however, continued to aggravate many would-be home buyers. We could have experienced even stronger sales growth were it not for the constrained supply of listings, especially in the low-rise market segments.

The resulting strong competition between buyers has underpinned the double-digit rates of price growth experienced so far this year," said Jason Mercer, TREB’s Director of Market Analysis.

See the full report and Graphs of Latest Prices here

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 ?
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm
• Power of Sales and Foreclosureshttp://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
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/popupquestion.htm
• See seasonal housing patternshttp://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm

Bank of Canada Maintains overnight interest rate at 0.5% as of March 9th 2016

Good morning from Fabulous Mississauga!

As most economists expected, the Bank of Canada refrained from cutting interest rates at this week's policy announcement meeting.

On March 9, 2016 the Bank of Canada announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/4 per cent

The key policy overnight rate is only 50 basis points (one-half of one percentage points or 0.5%) and another 25 basis point (bp) cut would only reduce the Bank's ability to take action, if needed, in the future.

The recent economic news has shown a marked improvement, precluding the Bank from following on the previous two rate cuts this year.

Read more here BankofCanada

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 ?
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/internet-evaluation.htm
• Power of Sales and Foreclosureshttp://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
  http://www.mississauga4sale.com/popupquestion.htm
• See seasonal housing patternshttp://www.mississauga4sale.com/TREBprice.htm