Restrictions for First-Time Buyers

As mentioned several times previously, here in my blog, the media is saying that Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is set to table new rules today with restrictions on mortgage restrictions/qualifications for first-time buyers.
Most likely, we can expect to say goodbye to amortizations over 35 years and purchases with less than 5% down.
See this article in The Star.
Also, in the Globe and Mail.
And in the Financial Post.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010
More details From The Star 
In the Financial Post, they're writing "Don't worry - the rules can still be bent" and that the "changes target reckless buyers"










 

Recent Real Estate in the News

Some interesting reads in the area of real estate.......

Ottawa weighs stricter mortgage rules - Globe & Mail

The Wealthy Barber on carrying debt - Globe & Mail

Article on suggested mortgage restrictions/limits hints that the restrictions would be better off aimed at "who" rather than "what"

Riding the low interest rates - The Star

Where have the listings gone?

While working on my regular mailings, I was providing a client with a comparison of the number of homes on the market this past January versus January 2009 and I was quite surprised by just how much of a difference exists between this year and last year. Here's an example:

In TREB district N03,
2009

• 232 homes on the market
• 25 sold
• average price $600,000
• average sale as a percent of list price: 94%

2010

• 93 homes on the market
• 36 sold
• average price $639,500
• average sale as a percent of list price: 100%

That means there were a whopping 60% fewer homes on the market in N03!
I know there's been an overall shortage of inventory across the GTA (on the order of 40% less, on average). So far, I have been unable to find any plausible reason to explain this, nor have I come across anything like that in TREB or in the media in general.

The smaller "inventory" means more buyer competition, hence the average house sold for LIST PRICE last month in N03!

Look at N06
2009

• 170 homes on the market
• 13 sold
• average price $464,596
• average sale as a percent of list price: 95%

2010

• 81 homes on the market - a 53% decrease in available inventory
• 21 sold
• average price $649,929 - that's a whopping 40% increase in average price!
• average sale as a percent of list price: 98%

 Stay tuned