Amortization may go to 30 years from 35 years

In next budget amortization may go to 30 years from 35 years

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-14/flaherty-s-helping-hand-may-delay-canada-interest-rate-rise-nomura-says.html

This will impact qualifying for mortgage for a lot of 1st time home buyers.

Daily mortgage rates

Financial Post site gives a general idea of mortgage rate changes. Although more lenders and special promotions available through brokers.

http://www.financialpost.com/personal-finance/rates/mortgage-closed.html

Heloc at Prime

Heloc at prime now, any one paying prime + 1 is giving more than required to the lender.

Prime rate at 3.00

Prime rate currently at 3.00 and variable rate mortgages as low as prime minus .80.

New Immigrants Driving Housing Demand

An interesting study by Scotia Economics, courtesy Merix Financial

New Immigrants Driving Housing Demand, according to Scotia Economics

TORONTO, July 9 /CNW/ - Canadian immigrants are narrowing the homeownership gap with their Canadian-born counterparts, according to the latest Real Estate Trends report released today by Scotia Economics. The most recent census data available show that in 2006, almost 72 per cent of immigrants lived in a dwelling owned by a household member, up from 68 per cent in 2001. The comparable share for the Canadian-born population rose a more modest two percentage points over this period, from 73 per cent to 75 per cent.

 "Homeownership tends to increase the longer one has lived in Canada, with the majority of new arrivals first settling in rental accommodation," said Adrienne Warren, Senior Economist, Scotia Economics. "Over time, immigrant families eventually make the move to homeownership, at rates similar to the Canadian-born population. However, between 2001 and 2006, the homeownership rate rose for all immigrant groups, regardless of how long they had resided in Canada. The biggest increase was among those living in Canada for less than 10 years.

 "As recent immigrants to Canada make the transition from renter to owner, they will increasingly drive housing demand," states Ms. Warren. According to the report, the faster transition to homeownership has been supported in part by strong labour markets. The employment rate for core working-age recent immigrants jumped 3 1/2 percentage points between 2001 and 2006 (to 67.0 per cent). This was faster than the 1 1/2 percentage point gain among their Canadian-born counterparts (to 82.4 per cent). The employment rate for all immigrants also increased over this period, but by a more modest one percentage point (to 77.5 per cent).

 "The better labour market performance of recent immigrants may reflect a favourable skills mix, with many employed in high-growth industries such as engineering, construction and skilled trades. It may also reflect a greater geographic mobility to meet shifting regional labour requirements," said Ms. Warren.

The report also states that, of the more than one million immigrants that came to Canada between 2001 and 2006, 69 per cent settled in the three largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs) - Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver - and their surrounding municipalities. Meanwhile, a growing proportion (28 per cent) of immigrants settled in smaller CMAs, most notably Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and Kitchener. Less than three per cent chose to live in a rural area.

 "Given Canada's aging population and relatively low fertility rates, longer-term household formation and housing needs will be largely determined by immigration," concluded Ms. Warren. "Using standard assumptions regarding immigration, fertility and mortality rates, the share of Canada's population growth coming from immigration could rise to three-quarters a decade from now, up from 60-65 per cent today and almost all by 2030. Most of this growth will be in Canada's urban areas."

 Scotia Economics provides clients with in-depth research into the factors shaping the outlook for Canada and the global economy, including macroeconomic developments, currency and capital market trends, commodity and industry performance, as well as monetary, fiscal and public policy issues.

Is 3-years fixed rate the best option for you right now?

We are seeing downward trend in Mortgage rates, 5-years fixed rate at 4.39 and 3-years fixed rate at 3.75!

For people who have fixed rates mortgages right now above 5%, it is time to re-visit and calculate how much can they save by switching to 3.75% for 3 years fixed, you would be surprised to see, how much your monthly payment can come down and saving of thousands of dollars. A lot of people who took fixed rate mortgage last year, the rates were somewhere close to 5.25 to 5.65.

For breaking a fixed term mortgage, there is a penalty to the borrower, so we analyze if after paying penalty, there is still saving, then it is worth to go for that option. It all depends on your present mortgage with your lender, so it is recommended to talk to your present bank before you do any thing.

For any questions, you can always take a advice of a Mortgage Consultant, who can show you a complete report on savings.

For new buyers, it is a time when they are in historic low rates and it is in their favor to know what is available in the market, not just through the banks but also from Mortgage Brokers because some lenders are available only through broker channel. Making an informed decision is important for the biggest debt of most people's life.

Remember advise is free and in most cases broker don't charge you a fee for arranging a mortgage.

2009 Could Be Better Than You Think - Wall Street Journal

I received this interesting email from one of our lenders, Olga Konrad Coulter, Business Development Manager, Laurentian Bank of Canada, and I would like to share it with all of you. After all, we all like to make a guess, and sometimes we wish we had a crystalball. :)

Enjoy the fun reading by Olga!

I am incredibly optimistic today as I look forward to 2009. You may think I’m off the rocker especially considering our current economic situation and all the credit-tightening we’ve been seeing at the end of 2008. But, I am not alone in my happy little world…I’m sure some of you are sharing my view and for those of you that aren’t, I have come across a pretty optimistic article from the Wall Street Journal entitled 2009 Could Be Better Than You Think. It lists 5 things that should make you excited to be in the financial business this year, but I particularly like the #2 point - It will be a good year to invest in real estate. Now, of course, this is the US that Allan Murray is talking about, but we must admit that a lot of the hysteria from the US has been spreading to Canada, so let’s hope that optimistic news travel just as fast!
Please check out the full article at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123103188733751647.html

Happy new year!