Affordability erodes again in the first quarter of 2010…  RBC has released their latest quarterly Housing Affordability study pinpointing cross-country trends in housing affordability in provincial and major metropolitan housing markets.   Canada’s housing market started 2010 the same way they ended 2009: firing on all cylinders.  While a boom to sellers, the resulting strong home price increases, however, have hurt housing affordability across the country.  To read the complete article, visit the RBC website at: 
 http://www.rbc.com/economics/market/pdf/house.pdf

This article was forwarded to us by Roberta Melik and Tony Kovacic, Mortgage Specialists with Royal Bank of Canada.  Mortgage Specialists, RBC
780-418-7208
roberta.melik@rbc.com
tony.kovaci@rbc.com

Roberta Melik & Tony Kovacic

Article presented by Joe Bernardo, Mortgage Consultant, with i-Mortgage Solutions inc.  
5 Great Reasons to use a mortgage broker…
1)  No cost to you.    There’s absolutely no charge for our services on typical residential mortgage transactions.  How can we afford to do that?  Like many other professional services, such as insurance, mortgage brokers are generally paid a finder’s fee when we introduce trustworthy, dependable customers to a financial institution.  These fees are quite standard and nearly industry-wide so that the focus remains on you, the customer.
2)  Save time with one-stop shopping.    It could take weeks for you to organize appointments with competing mortgage lenders and we know you’d probably rather spend your time house-hunting!  We work directly with dozens of lenders, and can quickly narrow down a list of those that suit you best.  It makes comparison-shopping fast, easy, and convenient. Read the rest of this entry »

Fixed mortgage rates have decreased, along with the maximum rate for our RateCapper Mortgage. There was no change to RBC Prime.

• Changes in Posted Rates
• Six-month convertible 4.95 per cent           (decreased by 0.10 per cent)
• One-year closed 3.70 per cent           (decreased by 0.10 per cent)
• Two-year closed 4.05 per cent           (decreased by 0.10 per cent)
• Three-year closed 4.60 per cent           (decreased by 0.15 per cent)
• Four-year closed 5.64 per cent           (decreased by 0.10 per cent)
• Five-year closed 6.10 per cent (decreased by 0.15 per cent)
• Seven-year closed 6.95 per cent           (decreased by 0.10 per cent)
• Ten-year closed 7.10 per cent           (decreased by 0.10 per cent)
• RateCapper Maximum Rate 5.50 per cent           (decreased by 0.375 per cent)
• RBC prime 2.25 per cent           (no change)

Roberta Melik I Mortgage Specialist I Royal Bank of Canada
T. 780-418-7208  F. 780-418-7219
Edmonton & Area
Website: http://mortgages.rbcroyalbank.com/roberta.melik

1. RATE INCREASES ON FIXED RATE MORTGAGES: we’ve received three significant increases over the last month, increasing the five year fixed rate by almost 1%. This is an additional squeeze on the pocketbook for anyone wishing to enter the housing market. It’s really important to get a pre-approval completed if you are in the market for a home or a new mortgage as most lenders will lock in a rate for 120 days. You’ll be protected from any further rate increases within that time period. Of course, if the rates go down you’ll get the lower rate as well. A pre-approval only takes about 10 minutes to complete so it’s definitely worth your time to get one done. Please feel free to phone or email me to get started on your pre-approval!

2. GOVERNMENT CHANGES TO THE QUALIFYING RATE: What does this mean? If you are taking out a mortgage and are choosing a term of less than five years or a variable rate you’ll now have to qualify for the mortgage using the Bank of Canada benchmark rate (currently 6.25%). If you choose a five year, fixed term you’ll only have to qualify at the contract rate (the rate you are actually paying). This means the vast majority of people will likely choose a 5 year fixed rate mortgage. To be honest, I don’t really think this is much of a concern as most borrowers choose a five year term anyway. However, if you have your heart set on a variable rate it’s definitely tougher to qualify.

3. REFINANCING YOUR HOME: If you’d like to access some of the equity you’ve built up in your home for some other purpose (buying RRSP’s, purchasing a vacation property, consolidating debt etc) you’ll now be restricted to 90% of your home’s equity. The previous rules allowed you to refinance up to 95% of the value of your home.

4. INCREASED DOWN PAYMENTS FOR RENTAL PROPERTY: If you purchase, port or refinance a rental property you’ll now need at least 20% equity in the property compared to the previous underwriting guideline of 5%. Please note, if you are purchasing a home to live in the down payment requirement has NOT CHANGED. You can still purchase owner occupied properties with as little as 5% down.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions, concerns or require a pre-approval or mortgage assistance!

JuJust thought I would take a minute to remind everyone that A Child’s Hope needs Foster and Adoptive Parents. This is old Footage. Please pass it along to anyone that you think can make a difference in a childs life.st thought I would take a minute to remind everyone that A Child’s Hope needs Foster and Adoptive Parents. This is old Footage. Please pass it along to anyone that you think can make a difference in a childs life.

CHack out these links

http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/alberta/2009/10/20/11459131-sun.html#/news/edmonton/2009/10/19/pf-11455121.html

http://achildshope.alberta.ca/home/

Edmonton, April 6, 2010: Housing figures released by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton for March and the first quarter of 2010 show that resale housing prices are up; listings and sales are up.

“There is consumer confidence in this market and both buyers and sellers appear eager to enter the housing market,” said Larry Westergard, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “Prices are up about 10% from a year ago and sellers are eager to take advantage. Buyers are aware of higher mortgage rates ahead and are getting into the market before the rates rise.” Read the rest of this entry »

Kelowna, BC (April 14, 2010) – RE/MAX of Western Canada is proud to support National Organ Donor Awareness Week, April 18-25, 2010, designated by the Canadian Society of Transplantation. RE/MAX has partnered with Aquarius Marketing to power www.LiveOn.ca, a newly developed website that has been designed as a touch point to facilitate easy access to the applicable registration information for each provincial transplant agency.  With the continued support of RE/MAX of Western Canada and other organizations helping spread the word on the need for organ donors, the BC Transplant Organization performed an amazing 211 organ transplants in 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

Great opportunity for 1st time home buyers!  Spacious 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom townhome has much to offer. This easy access home is a corner unit with front exposure.  Yard is fully fenced and landscaping has been redone.  Quick possession is possible don’t miss out.

Open House

Sunday April 11

1-4

List Price $185,000

coming sooner, Carney says

Bank of Canada governor worried about inflation

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney gave his most explicit warning to date that higher interest rates are coming, and perhaps sooner and higher than previously thought.

The bank governor has always maintained that his promise to keep interest rates at historic lows was contingent on inflation remaining tame, but Wednesday issued a clear alarm that he is worried about prices.

And in a speech before the Ottawa Economic Association, he underlined just how qualified his commitment to keeping the policy rate at 0.25 until at least July has become.

“This commitment is expressly conditional on the outlook for inflation,” he stressed.

Carney also noted that core inflation, the measure the bank uses to judge underlying price pressures, has been “slightly firmer” than projected.

Last week’s Statistics Canada report that core inflation — which excludes volatile items such as energy — had peeked above the bank’s 2% target to 2.1% in February likely was the last piece of evidence Carney needed to start publicly worrying about inflation. Read the rest of this entry »