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CategoryMortgage News

Posted 2 Comments on New Land Transfer Tax for ALL of Ontario??!! Ms. Wynne, stop the madness! Mortgage News

New Land Transfer Tax for ALL of Ontario??!! Ms. Wynne, stop the madness!

kathleen wynneDid you know that in 2008, the city of Toronto was given special powers by the Provincial govt to bring their own municipal land transfer tax?   Since then, homebuyers in Toronto have had to pay 2 land transfer taxes.  The Provincial one and the municipal one.

On a $500,000 home, Land Transfer tax in Toronto is $12,200.  In the rest of Ontario, it’s $6475.  On a $750,000 home, LTT in Toronto is $22,200. The rest of Ontario, it’s $11,475.  It’s a sliding scale with the % going up the more your home is worth.

Yesterday, October 27th (remember this date), we saw news reports that the Ontario provincial  is considering extending those same special powers to the rest of Ontario.    I’ll repeat that… the Provincial govt, led by Ms. Kathleen Wynne, is considering extending special powers to allow the rest of Ontario to add their own municipal land transfer tax.  Continue reading “New Land Transfer Tax for ALL of Ontario??!! Ms. Wynne, stop the madness!”

Posted Interest rates

Have Fixed mortgage rates hit the bottom?

record low ratesEarlier this year, Fixed rates hit new all-time lows.  This must sounds like a broken record, or for those in the modern error, sounds like a glitch or a skip (somehow, ‘broken record’ sounds better).

5 year fixed rates hit 2.59%.  This is the lowest we have ever seen. (before you start emailing me that you’ve seen lower rates, yes, I know.. I see them too and have access to them.. but those products are full of restrictions, limitations and inflated prepayment penalty calculations… for our purposes, I’m only discussing quality mortgage products with no gimmicks or strings attached).

Now, looking at the 5 yr govt of Cda bond yields (this is where fixed rates are closely priced from), we have seen this drop down to as low as 0.70%… it’s been holding steady in the 0.80% range since July.    Normally, the 5 fixed rate is priced 1.10% to 1.50% above the 5 yr bond yield..  but the spread has been at or over 1.79% for quite a while.   So, why haven’t the fixed rates gone down further? Continue reading “Have Fixed mortgage rates hit the bottom?”

Posted Mortgage News

Trudeau effect on housing market, interest rates and more….!

Trudeal Liberal majority“My fellow Canadians,  Canada has spoken…”  you’ve heard the speech before.  Okay, now that the party is over, what’s the hangover gonna look like?    It’s hard to say for sure.   Politicians are infamous for making promises they can’t keep.

One thing that we (I’m talking about anyone with a mortgage or invested in real estate) should be concerned with is what the Liberals plan to do with housing, mortgage rules, interest rates.

Here’s part of what they have promised..    Good and Bad. Continue reading “Trudeau effect on housing market, interest rates and more….!”

Posted Mortgage News

Fall 2015 housing market remains hot!

$$ up arrowThe stats are in… House prices are up 6.1% in September compared with Sept 2014.  In fact, house prices were up across the country except Alberta, Saskatchewan and PEI.

Now, what’s the first thought that popped into your head?  Did you ask, ‘when will house prices collapse or go downs?’.   That’s probably what most of us are thinking.  The answer is, no one really knows.

The Canadian real estate market has proven to be as resilient as Justin Trudeau.   Our new PM took a lot of personal attacks but somehow, he managed to survive and win… a majority govt.  (not saying I want or don’t want him there… I’ll keep my personal politics private… for now anyways). Continue reading “Fall 2015 housing market remains hot!”

Posted Consumer Debt

Personal debt level concerns are overblown…!

record low ratesThere’s a lot of talk in the media about Canadians carrying too much debt.   We’re getting hammered with messages of ‘record high personal debt levels’.   It’s true.  Our mortgage balances are higher, car loans are higher, student loans are higher, personal loans and lines of credit balances are higher.

Is this a problem?  Are Canadians in trouble?  Is this a reason to panic?  Let’s try to answer…

Well, here’s one very interesting stat that might crush that statement once and for all.   Canadians, on average, spend 14% of after-tax income on personal debt. 

Did I surprise you?   I’ll bet most people thought that number would be way higher given all the negative reports in the media.  Continue reading “Personal debt level concerns are overblown…!”