A Re-Cap of Good News to start off the School Year
I’ve spent the day reviewing some of the news coming into my email over the past two weeks or so. It looks like we are heading for recovery and with sales up and listings down, we can once again look forward to a healthy housing market. Here is a summary of a few of the articles coming my way:
As you scroll through the articles below you will find:
1. Today’s Market News
2. Economy starting to create Jobs?
3. August Sales Way Up
4. Record Sales in July
5. First Mortgage Lender to offer variable rates at Prime + 0 %
6. Mortgage Penalties can be Fought (how to save thousands).
Market News…Meini Ickert, September 8, 2009:
Overnight news that vehicle sales in China jumped 90% from August 2008 is helping fuel the TSX index to a new 2009 high this morning. China is expected to surpass the United States as the world’s largest automobile market this year.
The Canadian dollar is climbing vs. the US$ along with almost every other major world currency. The Loonie is up over a penny this morning to US$..9320. Bond yields are higher with the 5-year Canada yielding 2.61% and the 10-year 3.40 Weakness in the greenback is pushing commodities higher, with gold breaking through the $1,000 level this morning and crude oil climbing close to 5%. The TSX is up 126 pts. The Dow is up 49 pts.
Is the economy ready to start creating jobs again? Economists say time is near…By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press, September 2, 2009
OTTAWA - Canadian workers could be in for the most encouraging news in months Friday, just in time for Labour Day - a return to job creation coinciding with the first positive economic growth in almost a year.
Jobs is often called a lagging indicator, so the consensus is that Statistics Canada will report the country shed another 15,000 jobs last month. But at least one economist, CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld, is predicting just the opposite, saying up to 15,000 jobs may have been created during the month.
Last week, StatsCan reported that Canada's economy began to expand ever so slightly in June, and forecasters widely expect the momentum continued both in July and August, particularly with federal infrastructure dollars flowing during the summer months.
Despite what many expect to be a banner third quarter of growth, the consensus is that the U.S. lost another 250,000 to 300,000 jobs in August and will continue to shed workers for at least several months more. The outlook is brighter in Canada, said Bank of Montreal economist Douglas Porter, in part because this country's job market has held up far better in comparison, and also because Canada's domestic economy is far stronger.
"If Friday's report is positive (on job numbers), I think a lot of people are going to jump all over that as proof positive the recession is over."
August home sales way up… The Province, September 3, 2009
The benchmark price of a house or condo in Metro Vancouver has risen 11.4 per cent to $539,600 since the beginning of the year but is still down 1.1 per cent from a year ago, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported Wednesday.
There were 3,441 home sales in the region in August, more than double the number from August 2008. The number of active listings was 11,937, down 33 per cent from August 2008.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board reported 1,786 home sales in August, nearly double the number from August 2008.
Globe and Mail Update… Karim Bardeesy, Tuesday, August 18, 2009
A record July for Canada's housing resale market is a sign of improving confidence in the Canadian economy, but it may be difficult to sustain the rally in the coming months.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that 50,270 homes traded hands on the Multiple Listing Service in July. That's 18.2 per cent more than in July, 2008. On a seasonally adjusted basis, resale activity is only 1.4 per cent below the peak reached in May, 2007.
The activity was being driven by first-time buyers.
The Vancouver market had the biggest jump, with a 90-per-cent year-over-year increase in the number of sales.
The renewed interest in the market is primarily in the more affordable segments, said Gregory Klump, chief economist of the Canadian Real Estate Association, who attributed the rebound to three factors: low interest rates, a perception that the worst of the downturn is over and prices that are starting to increase.
Housing inventories are declining, with 219,982 homes now listed on MLS. That's a decline of 12.4 per cent from July, 2008, the largest year-over-year decline in six years.
The weighted national average price increased 4.6 per cent in July, 2009, from a year earlier.
First To Prime Winner: ResMor… Melanie and Rob Mclister, September 04, 2009
ResMor Trust just announced prime rate on its 4-year variable mortgage. This is now the lowest, widely-available variable rate in the marketplace. ReMor will received Chartered Bank status in Canada over the next coming months and with the help of mortgage brokers has become a leading mortgage lender in Canada.
It’s been about 10 months since lenders last advertised prime rate on a variable. Thanks to the credit crisis last fall, variable rates soared to prime + 1.50% or more—after being as low as prime – 1% in 2008.
Since the spring, however, rates have slowly drifted back towards prime as risk premiums in the money market have subsided.
ResMor’s offer is good until Sept. 30, and the mortgage must close within 45 days of approval. Contact any ResMor-approved mortgage planner (Francine Tracey) for complete details.
Mortgage Penalties Can be Fought…, September 8, 2009
Although it’s difficult to fight a bank, it is possible to have the penalty charged on your current mortgage reduced or even waived completely. Over the past 8 months, with mortgage rates having fallen to record low, many, many individuals have called me about the penalty being quoted by their existing lender. Where lenders have special clauses for “Interest Rate Differential” it is important for borrowers to read the fine print about the penalty being charged. Even more important is to read it and seek advice from a mortgage professional BEFORE you sign your mortgage. Unfortunately many of the individuals calling me did not seek the advice of an independent mortgage broker before signing with their own branch.
In other cases, it has been the sign of the times. It has been many broker’s experience that when banks run into financial difficulties they try to recoup some of these losses through penalties on mortgages that are being broken in the middle of the term. Often times it is Canada’s biggest banks that get away with this because of their large customer base and strong branding, not to mention that they are Federally regulated and escape regulations imposed by the Ministry of Finance. They get away with murderous charges if the client is in the middle of a sale. Many times that client is committed to a new purchase and can do nothing about it when the penalty charged is 4 times what they expected. Lawyers do not like to fight the banks because they get so much business referred their way from various branches.
In past months I have seen penalties as high as $30,000 being charged.
It is possible to fight what has been charged or is being charged to you, however you have to be prepared to dig up all of your mortgage documentation signed at your closing, and possibly call the lawyer that acted for you when you signed. If you require assistance with this, please contact your banker or broker. Recently, I heard a $12,000 penalty reduced to zero.
Call Tina Mak if u have any real estate needs at 604-412-5860 or email at tinamak@tinamak.com
