Don’t delay, call today before its gone.  No rate holds or pre-approvals.  Purchases and refinances only.

Some prospective home buyers were shocked recently when perusing real estate for sale in Calgary on CalgaryFinder.com. One of the listings on the local website was for a home that the sellers insisted is in a “highly rated white community”, has “great white workmanship”, and wouldn’t have “colored people” peaking into the yard.

Racist home listing

While it is common for online listings on many websites to not be censored, it is troubling to note that they allowed this listing to run with advertisements from a business who had no knowledge of the content of the listing.

Mortgage broker Jackie Bogoros was the unfortunate recipient of the advertising space on the offensive listing and is now suffering the consequences of the website’s poor judgement. The broker spent most of the day Tuesday dealing with angry emails and phone calls to her place of business because her advertisement was on the same page. Many Calgarians apparently thought that her ad appearing on the same page as the listing meant that she had read and approved of the racist post.

When Ms Bogoros contacted the website about the problem however, the response to her concern was less than satisfactory. The employee from CalgaryFinder.com who emailed her claimed that it wasn’t the company’s fault and that Ms Bogoros’ reputation would not be damaged by the incident. Understandably, Ms Bogoros does not feel the same way.

Do you think that a website should be held responsible for allowing offensive listings? What could they have done to better deal with this situation?

What do you do when you are single, tired of renting and can’t quite afford to buy a house or condo on your own?

Consider co-buying with a friend or family member.  This can be a wonderful situation and you can get the best of both worlds this way.  You will be able to jump into the Real Estate market in Calgary while the prices are affordable and mortgage rates are still low, and you will have your own place.

The City Council recently relaxed some more rules on properties that were not allowed to have legal suites, due to a narrow lot.  This has opened up a whole bunch of properties in Calgary that, for the cost of permits and a new kitchen, can become fully functioning dual suited properties.

Consider buying a property that you could at least live up and rent down, this is a great Mortgage Helper for Calgarians in the economy.

I have a home in Saddleridge that is ready to go now.  Vacant and waiting for its new family or owner.  Call me today to discuss further!

If you would like to BUY rental property and need to use stated income and you have 35% down, you can do this again.

Contact me directly for more information.

Mortgage trends cool Calgary home sales

Calgary, July 2, 2010 – Calgary home sales continued to show a marked year-over-year decline in the month of June, according to figures released today by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).

The number of single family homes sold in June 2010 in the city of Calgary was down 42 per cent from the same time a year ago, and condominium sales saw a decrease of 40 per cent from the same time a year ago.

June 2010 saw 1,061 single family homes sold in the city of Calgary. This is a decrease of 16 per cent from 1,262 sales in May 2010. In June 2009, single family home sales totaled 1,837. The number of condominium sales for the month of June 2010 was 445. This was a decrease of 14 per cent from the 518 condominium transactions recorded in May 2010. In June 2009, condominium sales were 738.

Conversely, sales of million-dollar-plus properties jumped by nearly 42 per cent year-to-date until the end of June, compared with the same period a year ago.

“We are seeing continued moderation in Calgary’s home sales in the face of higher mortgage rates, increased inventory levels and a decreasing number of first-time homebuyers entering the market,” says Diane Scott, president of CREB®. “Our sales trends in June reflect much of what we saw in May. Changes to mortgage rules meant a good portion of homebuyers wanted to get in before the new regulations took effect in April. This, along with rising interest rates on the horizon, pulled forward sales we might have expected in May and June.”

The average price of a single family home in the city of Calgary in June 2010 was $481,964, showing no significant change from May 2010, when the average price was $483,240, and showing an increase of 8 per cent from June 2009, when the average price was $447,142. The average price of a condominium in the city of Calgary was $292,238, showing a 4 per cent decrease from May 2010, when the average price was $304,662 and a 2 per cent increase over last year, when the average price was $285,595. Average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods, or account for price differentials between geographical areas.

“The one market that seems to be bucking this moderating trend is the luxury or higher-end market,” notes Scott. “Calgary home sales continue to shift to higher price points. This has resulted in our average price holding firm. Homes in the higher price range have performed well and account for a larger portion of sales as move-up buyers enter the market. In the first six months of this year, 187 single-family homes in the city of Calgary sold for $1 million or more, compared with 132 in 2009.”

The median price of a single family home in the city of Calgary for June 2010 was $418,900, showing no significant change from May 2010, when the median price was $420,000, and a 5 per cent increase from June 2009, when the median price was $399,000. The median price of a condominium in June 2010 was $269,900, showing a 4 per cent decrease from May 2010, when the median was $279,900. That’s up 2 per cent from June 2009, when the median price was $265,500.

All city of Calgary MLS® statistics include properties listed and sold only within Calgary’s city limits. The median price is the price that is midway between the least expensive and most expensive home sold in an area during a given period of time. During that time, half the buyers bought homes that cost more than the median price and half bought homes for less than the median price.

Single family listings in the city of Calgary added for the month of June totaled 2,733, a decrease of 8 per cent from May 2010 when 2,966 new listings were added, and showing an increase of 22 per cent from June 2009, when 2,244 new listings came to the market. Condominium new listings in the city of Calgary added for June 2010 were 1,084, down 11 per cent from May 2010, when the MLS® saw 1,221 condo listings coming to the market. This is an increase of 17 per cent from June 2009, when new condominium listings added were 927.

“We had an impressive housing recovery in the late spring and summer of 2009. As expected this rate of recovery will moderate in the latter half of 2010 in the face of rising mortgage rates and slowing demand—keeping Calgary’s housing market in balance,” says Scott.

“Nonetheless the economic outlook for Calgary and for Canada remains upbeat and should ensure consumer confidence remains in positive territory for the balance of 2010,” adds Scott.

Current 5 year fixed rate offered under this program is 4.49%

Don’t wait, lock in today.  With mortgage rates slowly going up, wouldn’t it be nice to have peace of mind in knowing that you can take your time to sell your home and not worry that you may end up with a high interest rate?

Call me TODAY (03) 991-2198

You can still buy a home with as little as 10% down even if you have been self employed for over 3 years with Genworth.  I do most of my business with Scotiabank, because I have a wonderful relationship with my underwriter whom I have been working with for over 5 years now.  There are few lenders that will go to bat for clients, and thank heaven I work with one of the few.

Here is a comparison side by side example of the difference in Self Employed Mortgage Programs between CMHC and Genworth.

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Dominion Lending Centres is a national mortgage brokerage and leasing company with more than 1,500 mortgage professionals offering free expert advice across Canada – taking the hassles out of the mortgage process and simplifying your life.

With access to more than 90 lending institutions, including big banks, credit unions and trust companies, our licensed team of mortgage professionals is familiar with a vast array of available mortgage products – ranging from first-time homebuyer programs to financing for the self-employed to financing for those with credit blemishes.

And, best of all, Dominion Lending Centres’ mortgage professionals work for you – not the lenders – to ensure you receive the best rates and products available in today’s marketplace.

Whether you’re looking to purchase your very first home or upgrade to a new home, renew your existing mortgage, refinance your mortgage to free up some equity, purchase investment properties or vacation homes, or lease business-related equipment, Dominion Lending Centres has a variety of products available to meet your unique needs.

Our mortgage professionals are experts in their field and many are ranked among the best nationally. Launched in January 2006, we were named Best Newcomer (Mortgage Brokerage Firm) at the prestigious CMP Canadian Mortgage Awards 2008 – the Oscars of the mortgage brokering industry.

Dominion Lending Centres also prides itself on being the only Canadian mortgage brokerage firm to also offer a leasing division headed up by leasing professionals – encompassing everything from financing for large industrial equipment to used vehicles to computer systems and beyond.

Yesterday BMO lowered their 5 year fixed rate to 4.25% when the rest of the country sat back waiting for the BOC to increase the Key Overnight rate by .25%.  This is an unusual practice during this period, but nothing is unusual for BMO these days.

The new rate will be effective June 2.

“Today’s Bank of Canada announcement might leave some home buyers believing they’re too late to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates,” Jane Yuen, senior manager of mortgages with BMO, said in a release.

Instead, buyers who have been more conservative hunting for a home in a booming real estate market so far this year will get one more chance to benefit from a low borrowing environment, she said.

I guess BMO is looking for drastic measure to gain market share after dismissing the Canadian Mortgage Broker channel in 2007.  They couldn’t compete with the excellent turn around times and service levels that other banks and mortgage companies offered mortgage brokers, so they in turn said they were unable to develop the right kind of relationships with these customer referrals and decided to bow out of the game.

What are they doing now?  I recently attended a Realtor® open house for LUNA in Calgary.  This is a condo development in Calgary that was stalled in 2008 due to lack of pre-sales and the fall in the economy.  They recently reduced the price tag on their condos to get more in line with current market values and brought a lender on board to handle the financing.  Guess who?

BMO

Why?

BMO will guarantee the rate until the development is finished. That is 2 1/2 years from now.  I had a conversation with the manager of the sales team and I asked him how he planned to avoid the same demise that purchasers of London at Heritage Station found themselves in this year.  He quickly ran over and got his BMO rep, Laura Parsons to explain the process to me.

Ms. Parsons quickly explained, “If we approve someone today and collect their employment confirmation and down payment information, there is no reason for us to double back and re-check them again in 2 1/2 years.  That would be unfair to them.” she said to our little group of astonished Reators®.  A colleague of mine piped up and said, “Well that seems like really risking lending practices, if I was lending money to someone and the application I took on them was 2 1/2 years old at closing, I would want some due diligence done again to confirm he is not now bankrupt or on welfare!”  Again Ms. Parsons indicated that if he was approved today, it would not be “fair” of them to recheck credit or ability to repay 2 1/2 years later.

The interesting point to this is that yes, CMHC may approve that application today.  But I am sure they would want to be sure that this mortgage they are insuring against default is getting the due diligence it should closer to closing to make sure the buyers ability to repay has been maintained.  But as long as BMO offers the rate hold for 2 1/2 years, they do not have to resubmit these files back to CMHC.  CMHC has no idea that BMO is not doing their due diligence to make sure these mortgage applications are strong 2 1/2 years into the future.

This is irresponsible lending.  Ever other lender rep I have spoken to about this afterward did not believe this was possible.  It may very well NOT be the case, but Laura Parson, Area Manager to National Business Development Group told me and several witnesses, it is the case.

Oh, and after all this she explained that BMO has many unique products like this and I should consider moving over to them.  But, I would have to give up my Real Estate License as it is a conflict of interest with the bank.

Excuse me?  Conflict?  Hmm that was an interesting choice of words, since I’m sure CMHC would have a conflict with their business practices…

OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada today announced that it is raising its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of one percentage point to 1/2 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly raised to 3/4 per cent and the deposit rate is kept at 1/4 per cent, thus re-establishing the normal operating band of 50 basis points for the overnight rate.

The global economic recovery is proceeding but is increasingly uneven across countries, with strong momentum in emerging market economies, some consolidation of the recovery in the United States, Japan and other industrialized economies, and the possibility of renewed weakness in Europe. The required rebalancing of global growth has not yet materialized.

In most advanced economies, the recovery remains heavily dependent on monetary and fiscal stimulus. In general, broad forces of household, bank, and sovereign deleveraging will add to the variability, and temper the pace, of global growth. Recent tensions in Europe are likely to result in higher borrowing costs and more rapid tightening of fiscal policy in some countries – an important downside risk identified in the April Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Thus far, the spillover into Canada from events in Europe has been limited to a modest fall in commodity prices and some tightening of financial conditions.

Activity in Canada is unfolding largely as expected. The economy grew by a robust 6.1 per cent in the first quarter, led by housing and consumer spending. Employment growth has resumed. Going forward, household spending is expected to decelerate to a pace more consistent with income growth. The anticipated pickup in business investment will be important for a more balanced recovery.

CPI inflation has been in line with the Bank’s April projections. The outlook for inflation reflects the combined influences of strong domestic demand, slowing wage growth, and overall excess supply.

In this context, the Bank has decided to raise the target for the overnight rate to 1/2 per cent and to re-establish the normal functioning of the overnight market.

This decision still leaves considerable monetary stimulus in place, consistent with achieving the 2 per cent inflation target in light of the significant excess supply in Canada, the strength of domestic spending, and the uneven global recovery.

Given the considerable uncertainty surrounding the outlook, any further reduction of monetary stimulus would have to be weighed carefully against domestic and global economic developments.

Information note:
The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is 20 July 2010. A full update of the Bank’s outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, will be published in the MPR on 22 July 2010.