Tagreal estate market

Posted August 25, 2017 Mortgage News

Spring housing market in the Fall?

Fewer homes in the summer. Lower average home selling price in the summer. That’s this year’s headline. But it could also apply to last year or the year before or the year before that.

What hasn’t been said much is that house prices almost always go up in the Spring and fall during the summer.

This year isn’t much different. Except that this Spring, we saw ridiculous price increases in the 20% range.

That’s just not sustainable. Check out some of these graphs from Canadian Real Estate Association.

This summer, house prices have fallen a little more than average. And sales are also down compared with the last 2 years. But listings haven’t increased. In fact, listings dropped in July signalling we could have reached the bottom.

Hey, if we were in a housing bubble, you would have seen new listings continue to spike up. That’s when we know the market will have changed gears.

PENT UP BUYER DEMAND?

Some are speculating that we could see a busy Fall market this September or October. The Fall has historically been the 2nd busiest housing market. If we look at Vancouver in 2016, after they announced their 15% Foreign tax rule, their market went soft and was very quiet. Many pessimists were saying it was the bubble bursting.

Six months later and Vancouver’s market is busier than ever. Fully recovered. The initial shock of the Foreign tax rule came and went. We could see that same sort of comeback for Toronto.

A WORD TO OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORS…

To the Federal govt: Please, no more mortgage rule changes. Let the market absorb all the massive changes already made. Listen, I’m telling you with 28 years of mortgage lending experience.. I can’t recall when qualifying for a mortgage has ever been harder… and I was around during the last real estate recession of 1990.

Non-bank lenders are being penalized as their cost of funds are higher than BIG SIX BANKS (thanks to the new Fed govt mortgage rules), hence driving more customers towards the BANKS… THE WINNERS: BIG SIX BANKS. THE LOSERS: CONSUMERS. Let’s bring back competition among Mortgage Lenders… and let’s make mortgage financing accessible again. The pendulum has swung way too far to the conservative lending side.

BANK OF CANADA RATE HIKES ON HOLD?

The Bank of Canada hiked the Prime rate by 0.25% in July. It was headline news for weeks. Many said this was the 1st of many hikes to come. Today, the forecast is for a possible October hike. But that isn’t a sure thing. And if the uncertainty with the housing market continues or if the NAFTA trade agreement gets turfed like President Trump says, you can bet the Bank of Canada governor will think twice about raising the rates. More likely a rate drop!

Stay tuned.. Maybe we’ll see a Spring market in the Fall?

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis 416 224 0114 steve@mortgagenow.ca

Posted February 28, 20174 Comments Rate forecast

Panic buying? When will the housing market slow down?

Houses selling over asking price is becoming the norm, these days. Kinda crazy. Sometimes a house is just listed under market value to attract a frenzy of buyers. An old tactic that has worked well in larger urban markets. Today, that tactic is being used in smaller communities, too.

What’s unclear is if this selling tactic is contributing to houses selling for more than they’re worth. And what is a home worth, anyway? I always thought a house was worth what someone was willing to pay in the open market. That’s still true in most cases, today.

When I see reports of houses selling for $100k, $200k and $300k over asking, it makes me wonder. How long will this market last? Will it crash? And if so, when? It’s hard to make forecasts and I can’t see into the future, but let’s examine this a little.

WHEN WILL THE HOUSING MARKET CRASH? Continue reading “Panic buying? When will the housing market slow down?”

Posted October 30, 20151 Comment Mortgage News

Today is your last chance to stop DOUBLING of Land Transfer Tax.

As this is such an important issue, I’m gonna repeat my last article. Today is the last day to voice your opinion to our Provincial govt and tell them how you feel about the possibility of DOUBLING your Land Transfer Tax. The govt is accepting all opinions until today.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is Ted McMeekin… You can email his office through Mark Cripps at Mark.Cripps@ontario.ca and by phone at 416 585 6842.

In case you don’t know what Land Transfer Tax is… the province charges a tax to the purchaser, every time a home is sold. Yup, another cash grab. It’s kinda like when you buy a new car… when you buy it, you are charged sales tax (today, that’s 13%… remember when it was 7% and 8%? seeing a pattern here anyone?). And when you sell that car, the sales tax is levied once again to the new purchaser…when they sell it, the new purchaser must pay this sales tax again… and so on, and so on. But why? Why should a sales tax be charged over and over again? Can anyone explain this?

If you buy a house, and sell in 2 or 3 or 10 yrs, the govt charges this Land Transfer Tax. It’s ridiculous and it’s not a fair system of levying a charge.. Yet, it’s something that has been accepted as the norm.

In Toronto, the mayor couldn’t balance the budget so he seeked special powers from the Province to introduce a Toronto Land Transfer Tax in 2008. Yup, they just created a new tax out of thin air and slammed all property buyers with a double tax.. Nice, eh?

Look, if you are as upset with this as I am, then take 2 mins and send an email to the govt. It’s one thing to bring into a major city like Toronto, but to bring into all communities across the province would be disastrous. Not all of Ontario is experiencing prosperity. This is shameful. I don’t like making strong statements like that. But I can’t help myself.

Stand up Ontarians! Have your say.

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis 416 224 0114 steve@mortgagenow.ca

Posted October 28, 20152 Comments Mortgage News

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

Did 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 May 27, 2015 Real Estate news

Trump’s George Ross says Canada’s Housing market is undervalued….

George Ross is Donald Trump’s Executive VP. He’s Trump’s senior advisor and has worked with Trump for 30 years. You’ve probably seen him on TV on ‘The Apprentice’. This week, he was quoted as saying Canada’s real estate market is undervalued, not overvalued. That’s quite the opposite of what the so-called experts have been saying for 8 or 9 years. (by the way, where are those experts now?)

If you listen to his interview, he makes some good points. Office properties have more upward potential than residential properties. But the residential market follows the Office or commercial market. He also says that buying a house for a quick flip isn’t a good strategy. It may sound good on the TV shows, but it’s a risky game to play. Mr. Ross says more fortunes have been lost in real estate than have been made. Continue reading “Trump’s George Ross says Canada’s Housing market is undervalued….”