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I had to look twice when I saw the headline in the following article :http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/crash-and-recovery/prices-for-new-homes-in-canada-rebound/article1283545/. New home pricing is up?  This made me want to read a little further only to find that Windsor was one of the top gainers. This is at least a glimmer of hope. Now I wouldn’t  go as far as saying that things have “turned around”, but anything little positive is better then the negative we have been facing here in Windsor and Essex County over the last while.  This is the first increase since September 2008, couple that with the low interest rates and hopefully this can only amount to something good we can build on. 

I wanted to talk briefly about an article I read just the other day http://www.canada.com/business/fp/Central+banks+signal+rates+here+stay/1925037/story.html
The information was great news about mortgage rates. It states “”It seems more likely that there will be no increases in interest rates in any of the major economies over the next 12 to 18 months.”" Great news for everyone that is looking to renew or refinance their mortgage over the next year or so. Especially great news for those of us in the Windsor market. With unemployment as high as it is the low interest rates and the opportunity to refinance can only help us maintain cashflow at this point in time. I would recommend looking at one of three options for refinancing 1) take the variable rate (my favourite) 2) look at the 5 year fixed term (as low as 3.99% OAC today) or 3) look at a one year term. The options are endless.  

I was reading this article this morning and thought it would be of interest http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=1881109. This decrease in the housing starts may indicate that people are refinancing with the rates being as low as they are rather then building. You can expect these numbers are even lower in the Windsor area. There is an option that most people are not aware of. That is a refinance with improvements where you can get a little bit more money than you may usually expect. This is a great option if you would like to improve your home.

A good (and common) question came through the other day. I thought I should share the answer with everyone.

Is it possible to get a mortgage refinanced after you have gone through a bankruptcy and how long do you have to be discharged from bankruptcy?

The short answer: Lenders usually want to you to be discharged for 2 years with re-established credit. continue

Rates Subject To Change

The great rate debate

When finances are tight, it’s good to plan ahead and have a clear idea of what your future expenditures will be. One of the standard ways to plan a budget is to base your monthly expenditures on your mortgage payment and fit other expenses around that, writes Helen Morris of the National Post. She goes on to say that A fixed-rate mortgage gives you set monthly payments for anything from one to 10 years, allowing for a stable financial plan. There are currently five-year deals available at about 4%. On the other hand, if you are strictly looking for the lowest payment possible and feel you are able to tolerate the risk of a future rate rise, then you may choose a variable rate.

To Read the Full Article Click Here: National Post

Rates Subject To Change

Rates Subject To Change

Could bonds pull mortgage rates down even more?

Falling bond yields could spur a slight drop in medium-term residential mortgage rates this summer, claims RITA TRICHUR of the Toronto Star, but bargain-hungry consumers would be foolish to count on considerably cheaper borrowing costs, experts say.

About a month ago, banks blamed soaring bond yields for two sizeable hikes to key residential mortgage rates.

Those moves drove up posted rates on five-year fixed-rate loans by 60 basis points to 5.85 per cent.

While yields have reversed course in recent weeks, banks have yet to pass on those savings to consumers. Meanwhile, there are fresh signs of life in the housing market, fueling increased demand for mortgages.

Read The Whole Story Here: Toronto Star

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Interesting Comparable Of Variable vs Fixed Windsor Rates Since 1999

Blue=5 Yr Fixed Rate Since 99
Red=Avg. Prime Rate Since 99

Have a quick look at this chart. It’s interesting that the variable rate has consistently been lower than the fixed rate for the last 10 years.

(click chart to make larger)

More than half a million Canadians have fallen behind on their various credit payments, fuelling a 19 per cent rise in the average national delinquency rate in the one-year period ending May 31, says a new report from Equifax Canada.

The credit bureau called the double-digit jump “alarming,” noting the average delinquency rate for Canada hit 1.52 per cent at the end of May. continue

Rates Subject To Change

“Is Canada’s housing market tanking or taking off”

The Canadian housing market is beginning to look like a large jumbled puzzle, reports Alia McMullen of the Financial Post. In her article she goes on to say that there is a discrepancy in the latest housing market figures. What do you think? Here is the article:

“The Canadian housing market is beginning to look like a large jumbled puzzle. A week after a report showed the price of an average house had soared to a record high, an alternate report suggested Wednesday prices have in fact declined for five consecutive months.

Both sources are respectable, and their data accurate. But different methodology has led to a discrepancy between the figures. So where does the Canadian housing market stand?

Economists and those in the real estate industry believe conditions fall somewhere in the middle.

The price of a Canadian home was down 6.7% in April from a year earlier, the relatively new Teranet–National Bank House Price Index showed Wednesday. It was the fifth consecutive month of yearly decrease and caused the index to be down 8.9% from its peak in August. Home prices in Vancouver were down 10.9% from April last year, while prices dropped 9.8% in Calgary and 7.6% in Toronto. On a positive note, prices were up 2.4% in Montreal, 0.6% in Ottawa and 0.2% in Halifax.

But the data are in strong contrast to Multiple Listing Service figures released by the Canadian Real Estate Association on Monday last week.

The MLS figures showed the average national home price for May was up a robust 16.4% from January, setting a record high of $319,757. Other indicators have…

Read the full article at:
Source: The Financial Post