Should You Buy a Home in 2011?

Attractive mortgage rates lured more home buyers into the market in 2010. Doom and gloom predictions brought on by the HST, tighter mortgage rules and projected interest rate increases failed to materialize.

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Government Mortgage Regulation Change Observations

As has been mentioned in numerous media outlets the past week, the federal government has made the decision to further tighten the regulations regarding mortgage lending on high ratio mortgages. The changes are due to take effect on March 18th.

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‘Twas the Debt Before Christmas…

If recent news reports about our collective appetite for credit are any indication, Canadians may wake up in the new year with a doozy of a post-holiday debt hangover.

As new or future homeowners, make it your resolution in 2011 to commit to a long-term program of debt and expense reduction. Pay yourself with the savings, either through lump sum payments on high interest lines of credit, your mortgage or your retirement fund.

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Forecast: Stable Home Sales, Mortgage Rates in 2011

By some reports, including those by Statistics Canada and TD Canada Trust released this week, real estate speculators hoping to take advantage of a housing market crash may be waiting a long time.

Housing sales activity weakened in the latter half of 2010, but home prices didn’t tank like some feared after the boom earlier in the year. Statistics Canada figures released today show that indexed new housing prices across Canada rose for the third consecutive month in October, albeit modestly. Leading the way was Saskatoon, driven by lower unemployment and higher labour costs than in other Canadian cities. Calgary was among those markets that saw a dip in prices.

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Home Sales Up Again in September

The Vancouver Sun is now reporting on the newest housing sales statistics for the month of September…and guess what? Sales increased in September from the month before. The article states that there is more balance in the market now due to less properties for sale and a further decrease in mortgage interest rates has also helped.

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When You Should NOT Buy Or Own a Home

I have been reading the content of my website recently and I feel many of the things I write are helpful to new or experienced owners or real estate and much of it is positive information about the real estate market and encouraging of others to buy a home or use home equity to refinance your mortgage to improve your financial situation.

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Vancouver housing starts increase dramatically

Evidence of strength in the Vancouver housing market recently has been reported by the Vancouver Sun. The increase in housing starts, which is basically the the building of new homes, has increased across all of Canada in August of 2010 compared to August of 2009, and Vancouver is regarded as the 5th hottest market for housing of 27 markets across Canada.

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