Home Ownership in Canada: A Chronological List of Programs for Buyers

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  1954: Introduction of the Mortgage Loan Insurance- by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation 1971: Principal residences were exempted from Capital Gains in The Income Tax Act 1992: There were two programs created by the federal government. The first was the Home Buyers’ Plan (HPB) allowing buyers to withdraw up to $20,000, tax-free, from their Registered Retirement Savings … [Read more...]

International Real Estate Market: How Does Canada Rank?

The residential real estate activity from 12 developed countries were analyzed and compared from the first quarter of 2010 to the same period this year. And despite the comments on: “High property prices, the tightening of mortgage insurance rules and the increase in mortgage rates limited demand, particularly among first-time buyers.” - ( and blah blah blah...) Canada ranked pretty darned … [Read more...]

Report says: Canada’s housing bubble close to bursting

A report by Capital Economic says Canada’s housing bubble is now close to bursting as housing valuations have “lost touch with fundamentals” and household debt is at a record high. House prices could fall by as much as 25 per cent over the next three years. “House prices have been growing rapidly for nearly a decade now and it has reached the point where housing is so overvalued … [Read more...]

How’s the Market? Canadian Housing Market Stabilizing in 2011

News on the national real estate market starts and sales can now be found at the CMHC's website. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) second quarter Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition, we are doing just fine. Expect a moderation and a slight increase on the home prices this year: "The recent increase in the average MLS® price reflected strong sales in … [Read more...]

News, Home Prices Drops and Readers Bite Back

You can always count on the media and the "Market experts" to make an issue out of something small, like the 0.1% decrease the new home prices in July. CTV News [Edmonton] reports: "The price of new homes fell 0.1 per cent in July after a 0.1 per cent increase in June -- the first drop in more than a year, according to Statistics Canada's latest report." So Statistics Canada comes out with a … [Read more...]

Bubble or no Bubble? That is the question.

Ever since last week, there has been a lot of talk (in the media) of a real estate bubble about to happen in Canada. Many articles were written about the markets that are anticipated to be affected. The gazette began the topic on August 30 with Housing Bubble: An accident about to happen. Followed by the list of cities whose market are in danger of a bubble burst. I haven't really gotten … [Read more...]

New Rules for Canadian Mortgages

You’ve probably read about the new regulations regarding Canadian mortgages for buyers/ investors and home owners wanting to re-finance. In case you haven’t been following, here is the scoop. Three changes will come in effect on April 19: Qualification: All borrowers will need to meet standards for five-year fixed-rate mortgages regardless of whether they're seeking a loan with a lower … [Read more...]

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