Market News Media Update

Weekend reading of Canadian Real Estate in the news:

• New listings of homes for sale across Canada set record in July: CREA [The Canadian Press]
  The number of new listings of existing houses for sale surpassed 80,000 for the first time ever in July and sales activity fell, making the market more favourable for buyers and less so for sellers, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Friday.
• Power shifts to homebuyers as listings mushroom: brokers [CBC News]
  Propelled by record numbers of new MLS residential listings in Ontario and Quebec, the national figure hit 80,147 in the month, up 1.4 per cent from June and 0.5 per cent above the previous record set in May 2008, the statement said.
• Sales of used homes decline as price rise slows in Canada [Calgary herald]
  Forget the past 20 months — they were an anomaly. What the Canadian real estate sector is moving toward is a more balanced market, says a national industry group.
• R-word aside, we are going nowhere [Financial Post]
  Technically speaking, we have escaped a recession. Practically speaking, the escape may be short-lived as the struts holding up the economy crumble one by one.

The MLS upgrades to Realtors.ca: website review

Much has been said about the upgrade of MLS.ca to Realtor.ca: Image mapping, user-friendly layout and over all, a better use of technology.

As Toronto Real Estate West describes:

On May 28th, 2008, MLS.ca will be introducing some new features to the web site on behalf of REALTORS® across Canada. The result will be an even better real estate resource, with more information about the properties displayed on the site.The first change will be the introduction of interactive mapping. You’ll be able to use Microsoft Virtual Earth software on the site to determine your search area, and to determine where a property is located. Interactive mapping will make it much more convenient to search traditional neighbourhoods or a specific region.The web site will also have a new streamlined text search. You’ll be able to input your initial search criteria without all of the details of an Advance Search. The site will still offer the detailed or Advance Search option, but also has a streamlined text version to make looking for properties even more convenient.There will be a new look, or design.

After reading all the hype about the new and improved website, one can only think that it would be a change for the better and that finally the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) had a good thing going for the home buyers and owners who browse the site. But it was only after a visit - and testing the new features - that you realize: apart from the interactive mapping, not much has changed.

Really.

Yes, the design is much better. But then again, we’re not there to see the pretty graphics. Are we?

The search function with interactive mapping, great addition. But stick to the location box on the top right hand side to find your area of interest, otherwise you’ll be clicking on that map for ever, until it gives you the right sector.

Now on to the Advanced Search:

Uh, not so advanced. Rather disappointingly simple.

First off, the form doesn’t give you a multiple choice box for the neighbourhoods. Instead, after choosing the province, you have to input the street and postal code. Which is fine, if you know exactly the street AND postal code of the area you are searching. But really, how many people you think can memorize these things? Honestly.

User friendly Advanced Search means you give as many options as possible so the user doesn’t get frustrated with the lack of them. Don’t have an exact street in mind? No problem, you can search by sectors.
In this particular case, I was looking into Old Montreal condos, but ended up with a list of properties from all over the island. Advanced? Not really.

Well, the new mapping function is definitely a plus. But there are still some of us out there that likes the old fashion: “input-as-much-detailed- information-as-possible” and get the results we want with one click of the “Search” button. Unfortunately, we are not there yet.

Hoping (fingers crossed) that they will soon announce a much-needed upgrade to the site, once again. It was a good start, but there is still much more room for improvement.

Real Estate Glossary: V

Valuation
The act or process of assessing value or price of a property through an appraisal.

Variable Interest Mortgage
A mortgage product where the interest rate can change or vary during the loan term. The variance in the interest rate usually depends on a specific factor such as prime bank rate or the guaranteed investment certificate rate for a designated lender.

Variable Interest Rate
Percentage paid by a borrower for the use of funds. This interest rate moves up or down periodically due to changes in other interest rates.

Variable Rate Mortgage
A mortgage product where the interest rate is adjusted periodically based on a standard financial index. Also called an “Adjustable-rate Mortgage.” CanEquity has access to the best Variable rate/below prime mortgages in Canada.

Vendor Take Back
In order to sell a property, the seller will provide all or some of the financing to ensure the transaction.

Verification of Employment
Confirmation from a place of employment that verifies a loan applicant is being truthful about where he or she works and about the salary he or she earns.

Void
Something that is void has no validity or effect under the law meaning it is null. For example, a contract can be rendered void.

Voidable
When an individual or party involved in a contract is entitled to renege or retract the contract at his or her discretion.

Ma propriété n’a pas été vendue: Efforts Marketing

[ Part III de l'article: Ma propriété n’a pas été vendue, pourquoi? ]

Une stratégie marketing appropriée est un élément important au succès de la vente. Dans un marché de vendeurs, présentée la propriété sur MLS peut être suffisant. Par contre, si le marché change et tend à devenir un marché d’acheteurs, l’inventaire de propriétés à vendre augmente et le marketing doit être plus agressif. Il devient alors important de faire affaire avec un agent qui utilise des outils marketing plus diversifiés.

Les journaux locaux ou spécialisés peuvent s’avérer des choix judicieux. Utiliser plusieurs outils informatiques est une méthode efficace car une grande majorité d’acheteurs entameront leurs recherches sur internet avant même d’engager un agent. Le but est d’offrir le plus de visibilité possible pour susciter le plus d’intérêt possible de la part des acheteurs potentiels ou de leurs agents.

En plus, d’utiliser plusieurs outils marketing, il faut aussi présenter votre maison sous son meilleur angle sans toutefois faire de fausses promesses qui ne seront pas tenues lors de la visites. (texte descriptif, photos, etc.) De plus, certaines périodes de l’année sont plus appropriées à tel ou tel médias, un professionnel de l’immobilier sera en mesure de vous faire part de sont expérience dans le domaine.

A venir: Communication entre le client et l’agent

Ecrit par Sheila Iacono. Agent immobilier affilié.
Royal Le Page Habitaction. Courtier Immobilier agreé.

Tuesday: Canadian Real Estate in the News

A quick list of today’s articles from different news sources.

The Calgary Herald seems to be quite busy reporting for Canada and the US.

• Housing is too expensive - The Montreal Gazette
• Calgary home prices fall 8% - Calgary Herald
• Home sale prices fall in July - CBC.ca
• Housing market dodging worst of US meltdown -Calgary Herald
• Albertans’ household finances in decline - Calgary Herald

A list of Real Estate Abbreviations: Residential

Even though these days we are getting more descriptive Property Information Sheets, there can be times when you’ll run into an almost illegible document. These property sheets were often described with a lot of abbreviations. Trying to decipher its meaning is almost as hard as finding a good property!

Here is a bilingual list of Real Estate abbreviations used to describe residential properties.

Click on this link to view the PDF file: Abbreviations List
(You can save a copy or print)

Canadian Real Estate Blogosphere gets media attention

Real Estate and Mortgage bloggers are finally getting noticed in the main stream media.

Just today, Rob Carrick from Globe and Mail’s Report on Business, wrote a comprehensive article on the Canadian Real Estate Blogosphere, as well as the Financial Blogs.

Well, it’s about time someone notices the bloggers :)

In his column, he mentions:

Blogs, on the off chance you haven’t heard, are an online platform where people with an interest in a topic post their musings on a regular basis. Financial topics are big in the blogosphere and, as money matters go, there’s nothing bigger for most people than buying and selling a home.

Most housing blogs are written by people in the industry, such as agents or mortgage brokers, which makes sense because real estate matters are not a day-to-day concern for most individuals. One issue that does come up repeatedly is mortgages, which happens to be the subject of one of the most essential blogs in the real estate area.

Good Mortgage blogs in Canada are hard to find. The already mentioned Canadian Mortgage Trends has to be one of the best mortgage blogs I have read so far. Updated daily and always with fresh information.

There were several other blogs included on Mr Carrick’s article, which we already have them listed on our links page. As for the ones he forgot to mention: Move Smartly - (another favorite) and last but not least, Montreal Real Estate Blog.

It’s OK. We won’t take it personal :)

Read Rob Carrick’s article: Looking to buy? Sell? Blogs can help

Financial Post reports: Value of new homes goes up

At last, the housing market starts to look a lot better. This article was published by the Financial Post, some of the interesting parts as follow:

The value of new homes in Canada barely grew in June, with many regions posting annual declines once adjusted for inflation, new figures show. But despite forecasts for more soft readings ahead, economists say Canadians are not expected to experience a major U. S.-style correction because prices are still historically high.

(..) It was the slowest yearly rate of growth since March, 2002, and barely outpaced headline inflation, which rose to 3.1% in June.

Growth has slowed since peaking at the unsustainable pace of 12.1% in August, 2006. However, it still averaged a high 7.8% in 2007.(..)

(..) Growth in Toronto picked up slightly to 3.8% compared with 2.5% a year earlier, while in Montreal, prices rose by 5.6%, up from 3.9% in June, 2007.

If you have been following the Canadian Market trends, you probably realized by now that even with the slight increases of sales (quarterly), we are still facing a very volatile market. Checking back with previous Market News, in April we had a report from the Canadian Housing Corporation giving us the details a low market. Canadian Housing was down by 16.3% - with the exceptions of British Columbia.

For those who are wondering when is the best time to put your home for sale, this is one of those times we all can say: We just don’t know.

But, we keep on watching the trends, and take it from there.

What you need to know about Credit Scoring

Part I: Good Credit Translates into Lower Rates for the Consumer

In the 1960s, Fair Isaac Corporation started working on a system lenders could use to evaluate the likelihood of receiving repayment on loans. Prior to that, it was really a matter of trusting an individual to be a “man of his word,” so to speak. Fair Isaac sought to take human error out of the equation with a reliable system that could determine whether or not consumers were truly worthy of credit, and thus FICO was born. This evolved to become the standard for lenders by the 1980s.

Credit scoring has an enormous impact on a borrower’s ability to purchase a home. It can mean the difference between getting a good interest rate and the home of their dreams, or whether they even qualify at all. For this reason, it is important for borrowers to understand the credit scoring process, and to know what their credit score is when they look to obtain mortgage financing.

What the credit scoring model seeks to quantify is how likely the consumer is to pay off their debt without being more than 90 days late on a payment at any time in the future. Credit scores can range between a low score of 300 and a high of 900. The higher the client’s score is, the less likely they are to default on their loan. Only 5% of the people in Canada have a credit score above 800. These are the slam-dunk clients that walk away with the best interest rates. On the other hand, approximately 4% of the people in Canada are faced with the possibility that they may not qualify for the loan they want because they have a score between 500 and 600.

Stay tuned for Credit Scoring, Part II: The Five Factors of Credit Scoring

Written by Danuta Levitzki.
Conseillère en Financement Hypothécaire | Mortgage Loan Specialist
Visit her website

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Real Estate Glossary: U

Umbrella Mortgage
A specific arrangement where one document encompasses one or more already existing mortgages registered on the same property. The mortgagee is responsible for remission of payment(s), to lender(s), while the mortgagor makes one payment to the mortgagee. Also referred to as a wraparound.

Underwriting
To support or agree to (a decision, for example). In real estate, underwriting refers to the analysis of the risk involved for a lender to grant a mortgage loan and whether or not the risk is acceptable. Underwriting involves a property evaluation as outlined in the appraisal report, and an evaluation of the borrower’s ability and willingness to repay the loan.

Unearned Income
This type of income can include funds that are gained from interest, dividends, investments, or capital gains as opposed to income that is earned by working for a salary, hourly wage, or gratuity.
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