Ariana Leroux Mortgage Blog

Should you lock in to the 10-year rate? Thursday, March 29, 2012 Canadian mortgage holders and new home buyers have enjoyed a long period of low interest rates. Those rates are now rumoured to be going to go up - perhaps not in a dramatic way, but in small increments. Naturally, homeowners with variable-rate mortgages want to know if they should lock into a fixed rate. The most common question, historically, is whether to go fixed or variable, however, the even bigger question today is whether to lock into the 10 year rate below 4%. The simple answer is: It all depends. Most homeowners choose a fixed rate because they know exactly how much principal and interest they pay on each regular mortgage payment throughout the term. However, when interest rates go down, they can't take advantage of that to save money on interest. Variable rates were the most popular choice among homeowners between the ages of 35 ...

Protect Yourself Against Mortgage Fraud Mortgage fraud is a serious issue that can have a devastating impact on unsuspecting buyers who are new to the home buying process. Participating in a scheme that requires you to provide false or misleading information to a mortgage lender is fraud. Fraud is an offence under the criminal code of canada. there are two prominent kinds of mortgage fraud today: one involves scams that attempt to illegally acquire property—‘fraud for property’—and one wherein schemes are designed to squeeze money out of transactions involved when a property is exchanged between buyers — ‘fraud for profit’. the No. 1 rule to remember when it comes to real estate investments or any investments; if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Mortga...

Bank of Canada Maintains Overnite Rate Target at 1% Ottawa, Ontario - The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 1/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 3/4 per cent. The heightened uncertainty around the global economic outlook has decreased in the weeks since the Bank released its January Monetary Policy Report (MPR). With tentative signs of stabilisation in European bank funding and sovereign debt markets, conditions in global financial markets have improved and risk aversion has decreased. However, the global economy is still expected to grow below its trend rate as the deleveraging process in advanced economies proceeds.  The U.S. expansion is proceeding at a modest pace, reinforced by recent improvements in the labour market.  Growth in China is moderating to a still-high rate as expected, in response to past policy tightening and weaker external demand. Comm...

Canada getting ready to grow Two interesting updates to Canada’s economy show that the country is growing again, with consumer confidence improving. And along with climbing household debt, net worth is also climbing. However, the more interesting stat  we should be looking at is the employment number. Improving global conditions have resulted in a few economists, including those at Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, UBS Securities Canada and the University of Toronto, to up their economic growth forecasts for this year. These economists see an improvement in consumer confidence as well as a business community ready to grow. According to Statistics Canada’s investment intentions survey, which was released last month, Canadian businesses plan to boost investment by 6.2 per cent to $306.3-billion this year – that investment would be at a record level. As for net worth climbing, deputy chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns Douglas Porter said in an interv...

CMHC funding cap means changes coming Monday, February 27, 2012 The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recently announced that it was within 10% of reaching its mortgage $600 billion funding cap. A number of lenders immediately reacted by restricting or eliminating their Business for Self and Stated Income programs. A few also tightened their guidelines for New to Canada programs. It's not yet known how this will impact the housing market in general but for now, the private-sector mortgage insurers - namely Genworth and Canada Guaranty may get a boost. These two companies have oft-complained that the government has given CMHC an unfair advantage by guaranteeing a larger proportion of its insurance. CMHC's insurance is backed 100% by the government, while private sector mortgage insurance is only 90% backed. "The result of the CMHC announcement means an increased demand ...

Canadian home sales edge higher in February Thursday, March 15, 2012 Following is the text of the national resale housing activity from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national resale housing activity improved in February 2012 after having declined in January. Highlights: Home sales rose 1.4% from January to February.  Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity was up 8.6% from February 2011 levels.   The number of newly listed homes climbed 1.9% from January to February. The national sales-to-new listings ratio was little changed, remaining firmly in balanced territory.   The national average home price advanced 2.0% on a year-over- year basis in February. Sales activity recorded through the MLS Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations edged up 1.4 per cent ...

****Good Morning Bloggers: for this am, I am grabbing the info I have at www.arianaleroux.blogspot.com as I can not get into that account anymore, so we will be using this blog from now on. Hopefully it does not cause any confusion as I am trying to get google to take down the other blog (which is turning into a huge hassle). ****   DID you know that real estate commissions are considered negotiable? .... Real Estate Commissions Did you know that real estate commissions are considered negotiable? That being said, there is a standard that many real estate professionals use when it comes to what commissions they require based on the services they offer. The general consensus among Edmonton REALTORS® is based on 7% - 3.5% on the first $100,000 and 1.5% on anything over $100,000 for both the buyers agent and  the sellers agent. What's All The Buzz About "Flat Fee" MLS® System Services? Some companies have started offering ...