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Heshani Makalande

Home prices climb 8% despite drop in resales - Moneyville.ca - 0 views

www.moneyville.ca/...limb-8-despite-drop-in-resales

Mortgages

shared by Heshani Makalande on 28 May 11 - No Cached
  • OTTAWA—The national average home price rose by eight per cent last month even as housing sales fell by 14.7 per cent from the year before
  • National average home prices rose by eight per cent to $372,544 compared to last April — the third consecutive month in which the national average price rose by eight per cent from year ago levels, the Canadian Real Estate Association said.
  • the number of previously occupied homes sold in April fell to 17,230 from 18,745 a year ago.
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • The national average home price has been skewed upward in recent months due to a surge in sales of multi-million dollar properties in the Greater Vancouver area.
  • “Changes to mortgage regulations that took effect in April 2011 likely sidelined a number of first-time homebuyers,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist.
  • “By contrast, higher end home sales in Greater Vancouver and Toronto had their best April ever.”
  • The drop in sales of previously occupied homes last month reflected changes to mortgage rules that came in midway through March that reduced the maximum amortization period and pulled forward some sales that would have otherwise occurred later in the year.
  • including Toronto, Vancouver and British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.
  • Government moves to tighten mortgage rules introduced last spring to reign in some buyers gave sales last year a boost, while a second round of changes introduced in March, ate into sales this April, CREA said.
  • “Last April, several transitory factors artificially boosted sales. This included the impending tightening of mortgage rules, speculation about higher interest rates and the looming introduction of the HST in some provinces,” said Klump.
  • sales were down 4.4. per cent from March of this year.
  • The number of newly listed homes edged up 1.3 per cent in April from March, but remained well below levels in January and February, when the coming mortgage rule changes were announced.
Steven Iarusci

Ottawa resale market to cool in 2011; sales to fall 8%: CMHC - Residential - Real Estat... - 0 views

www.obj.ca/...1

demand supply housing mortgage

shared by Steven Iarusci on 02 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • local sales of existing homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service are anticipated to fall to an estimated 13,750 units from 14,923 in 2010, a 7.9-per-cent drop, before picking up again to approximately 14,100 units in 2012.
  • Higher anticipated mortgage rates have resulted in a pull-forward effect on housing demand
  • sales were higher in late 2010 and early 2011 as buyers rushed to avoid rising interest rates and new mortgage rule changes
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • still at historic lows, moderate raises in mortgage rates will impact carrying costs negatively, thus slightly subduing housing demand
  • Average resale prices are expected to rise by a brisk 11.5 per cent to $340,000 this year, but the growth rate will slow significantly in 2012, to 2.9 per cent
  • that segment falling 20.1 per cent to 1,975 units
  • 5,950 total housing starts forecast for 2011, up 2.3 per cent from the previous year
  • single-detached market is anticipated to be the hardest-hit
  • New home construction is also expected to cool down this year
  • result of an ongoing shift towards more affordable housing types
  • first-time homebuyers and downsizing empty-nesters at the forefront of Ottawa's housing market
  • raising the popularity of more affordable housing types such as condominium apartments, townhouses and semi-detached homes
  • soaring gas prices and lengthening commute times will push up interest in homes in the core
  • Elsewhere in the country
  • MLS sales, meanwhile, are expected to be between 429,500 and 480,000 units, with 2012 sales anticipated to be in the range of 410,000 to 511,900 units
  • slowdown affecting both single-detached homes and multi-family housing
  • Steven Iarusci on 02 Jun 11
     
    A few numbers pertaining to supply of housing in the Ottawa market. Talks a little of why demand is changing in the market.
Susan Cui

Canadian house prices continue to rise, although April sales down - 6 views

www.montrealgazette.com/...story.html

Housing Price Falling sales Rising Prices

shared by Susan Cui on 23 May 11 - No Cached
  • Canadian home prices continued their upward march in April, driven by strong investor demand in Vancouver, while cracks in the Toronto condominium market may be starting to appear.
  • The Canadian Real Estate Association said Tuesday the average price of a home sold in April across the country was $372,544, up eight per cent from a year ago.
  • but the Ottawa-based group cautioned that the figure was skewed due to "surging multimillion dollar property sales in selected areas of Greater Vancouver."
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • slow April sales figures
  • saw activity dip 4.4 per cent from March
  • The slow sales are said to have been driven by new mortgage rules which came into affect April 19 and made it tougher to borrow.
  • Changes to mortgage regulations that took effect in April 2011 likely sidelined a number of first-time homebuyers. By contrast, higher end homes sales in Greater Vancouver and Toronto had their best April ever.
  • more than 50 per cent of condominiums sold in the past year were purchased by buyers who do not intend to occupy their units and plan to rent in many instances.
  • People are buying these for capital appreciation.
  • Don Lawby, chief executive of Century 21 Canada, says the housing market has been affected by foreign investors who have reacted to tougher tax rules in their home country by investing abroad.
  • They are not afraid to offer above price and they are not afraid to get into a bidding war
  • Nevertheless, Lawby says
  • these investors
  • are small and the impact on the larger market minimal.
  • while April numbers present a market with falling sales and rising prices,
  • market conditions were exaggerated by some one-time issues.
Dmitri Tkachenko

Loonie rises as greenback slips back - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article2038052

Canadian currency Home buyers Income and spending

shared by Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11 - No Cached
  • Dmitri Tkachenko on 30 May 11
     
    "The Canadian dollar gained 0.14 of a cent to $1.0232 (U.S.).The Canadian currency has drifted lower for the past four weeks, partly on signs of further weakness in the U.S. economy. Data from the U.S. Commerce Department, released Thursday, showed that the economy grew at a tepid annual rate of 1.8 per cent in the first quarter, lower than many economists expected. Higher prices for gasoline and weak consumer spending have held back the economy. The Labour Department also said more people applied for unemployment benefits last week. On Friday, the Commerce Department said that both personal income and spending rose 0.4 per cent in April, in line with what economists expected. But the rise in spending was the smallest in three months. Another report showed that the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes in April plunged 26.5 per cent from a year earlier."
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