7 Reasons to Invest in Newfoundland Real Estate

March 2, 2008 · Filed Under Newfoundland Top 7 · 3 Comments 

The Top 7 Reasons to Invest in Newfoundland Real Estate are:

7. Average price for a home in Newfoundland is MUCH lower then the Canadian average house price. A 2-apt home for $200,000 can fetch you an extra $1600 a month cash flow (before expenses and mortgage)

6. The next few years are looking promising for the real estate market. Remax is predicting a 12% increase in housing prices for 2008.

5. Oil and Gas - Hebron, White Rose, Hibernia, Terra Nova Project, all major contributors to the Newfoundland Economy.

4. The cost of living in Newfoundland is lower per person/family then other provinces in Canada.

3. Danny Williams. Whether you like him or not, the “Danny Williams Effect” has certainly placed a positive spin on Newfoundland.

2. View some of the most spectacular images in the world off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador. Watch whales breach and icebergs float by your reasonable priced ocean front property. Own a little corner of the world you can call your own.

1. Quality of living. Newfoundland being an island has a low crime rate and a high standard of living. Little to no traffic. Plenty of provincial parks and golf courses. Top notch amenities. As well as our genuine Newfoundland hospitality, quick wit, and charm.

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Remax Decade in Review

February 22, 2008 · Filed Under Market Trends, Remax Newfoundland, St. John's Investments and St. John's Real Estate · Comment 

Residential real estate markets across Canada post solid gains over past decade, says RE/MAX. Pent-up demand, population growth, tight inventory levels, and the longest economic expansion since World War II collectively fueled one of the best decades on record for residential real estate in Canada, according to a report released by RE/MAX.

RE/MAX Decade in Review 1997 - 2007 found that major housing centres across the country experienced strong consecutive growth between 1997 and 2007. Average price spiraled upward while unit sales climbed in tandem as more and more Canadians bought into homeownership. Nationally, average price almost doubled in the 10-year period, rising from $154,606 in 1997 to $307,265 in 2007, for a 7.1 per cent annually compounded rate of return.

Edmonton led the country in terms of percentage increase in average price. The city saw a 203 per cent upswing in housing values - or an 11.7 per cent increase annually - with average price rising from $111,587 a decade ago to $338,636 in 2007. Prince Edward Island experienced the highest percentage increase in unit sales, with the number of homes sold up 119 per cent in the 10-year period.

Percentage increases in home sales varied across the country, with Prince Edward Island experiencing the greatest upswing over the past decade, followed by St. John’s at 106 per cent.

Average Price1997 - 2007








07 vs. ‘97 Compound
Market 1997 2007 % +/- % ‘97 vs. ‘07
Greater Vancouver Area $287,094 $570,795 98.8 7.1140
Victoria $218,398 $466,974 113.8 7.8960
Kelowna $178,525 $497,322 178.6 10.79
Calgary $143,305 $414,066 188.9 11.1940
Edmonton $111,587 $338,636 203.5 11.7400
Saskatoon $98,270 $232,754 136.9 9.0050
Winnipeg $86,040 $187,456 117.9 8.0990
Barrie $140,569 $258,999 84.3 6.3020
Greater Toronto Area $211,307 $376,236 78.1 5.9390
Hamilton-Burlington $151,538 $268,857 77.4 5.9010
London-St. Thomas $131,382 $202,908 54.4 4.4420
Kitchener-Waterloo $141,387 $252,429 78.5 5.9680
Sudbury $108,521 $182,536 68.2 5.3380
Kingston $124,123 $222,300 79.1 6.0010
Ottawa-Carleton $143,866 $277,058 92.6 6.7730
Halifax-Dartmouth $109,827 $216,339 97.0 7.0140
Prince Edward Island $86,403 $133,457 54.5 4.4430
St. John’s $92,226 $149,258 61.8 4.9320
Saint John $86,171 $140,544 63.1 5.0130

National $154,606 $307,265 98.7 7.1100
Source: CREA, Local Real Estate Boards, RE/MAX

The decade was not without its obstacles – the high-tech meltdown, a US recession, 9/11, SARS, Mad Cow, a blackout that affected the entire Northeastern seaboard, natural disasters such as ice storms, hurricanes, and forest fires and more recently, the credit crunch south of the border. Given the continuation of sound economic fundamentals, it’s expected that residential real estate markets across the country will continue to experience healthy activity, albeit at a more moderate pace.

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Will the subprime mortgage effect St. John’s real estate?

January 28, 2008 · Filed Under Mortgages and Real Estate Articles · 1 Comment 

Last week both the United States and Canada dropped their interest rates, 0.75% and 0.25% respectively. With the recent subprime mortgage fiasco in the U.S, people have been asking was the rate reduction due to this? Will Canada follow the same fate? And most importantly….what exactly is a subprime mortgage?

Here is my interpretation of the subprime mortgage:

The Bank of Canada has it’s prime rate. Banks and lenders then offer a mortgage at competing rates to potential pre-approved home buyers.

A subprime mortgage refers to a mortgage offered to a borrower that is higher risk than the normal home buyer. They do not receive a lower interest rate. It’s actually the complete opposite. Potential home buyers who have poor credit scores make them candidates for a subprime mortgage and they typically pay much higher mortgage rates.

The problem was that the lenders offered an introductory rate which was comparable and at times lower than the prime mortgage rate to attract clients. You can begin to see the bigger picture forming.

The introductory rates were only temporary and after a year or two they expired and the interest rate on a subprime mortgage increases. This resulted in many, now home owners, who once had a low introductory mortgage rate paying interest rates in the double digits.

Remember, they were high risk from the start with “special” introductory offers. When the rates jumped to double digits, the subprime meltdown began.

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Quirky Facts about St. John’s

January 8, 2008 · Filed Under St. John's General · Comment 

St. John’s is the oldest city in North America

St. John’s is the most easterly city in North America

Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless message on Signal Hill in St. John’s

It was in St. John’s that the first nonstop transatlantic flight was made in 1919 by Alcock and Brown.

St. John’s has a junior hockey team in the QMJHL, called the St. John’s Fog Devils.

St. John’s hosts the oldest continuous sporting event in North America - the St. John’s Regatta, held on the first Wednesday of August (weather permitting)

St. John’s is the eastern terminus of the Trans-Canada Highway. (Victoria, British Columbia is the western terminus.)

Tradition declares that the city earned its name when explorer John Cabot became the first European to sail into its harbour, on June 24, 1497 — the feast day of Saint John the Baptist.

The majority of the population in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador descends from both Ireland and England.

During the Second World War, the harbour was used by Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy ships used for protecting convoys. It was also the site of a large US Army base called “Fort Pepperrell.”

The worst disaster to befall St. John’s was on July 8, 1892 and is commonly called The Great Fire of 1892.

St. John’s is a small city of 170,000 with all the benefits of a large urban centre.

St. John’s is goes by Newfoundland Standard Time which is 1/2 hour ahead of Atlantic Standard Time, and 1 ½ hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

St. John’s is 1,842 km from New York City and 3,774 km from London, England.

St. John’s is on the seventh largest island in the world - Newfoundland.

St. John’s is the foggiest major city in Canada.

St. John’s population is 181,113 (2006)

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