Protect, Maintain and Enhance the value of your home with HouseLogic

February 19, 2010 · Filed Under First Time Buyers, Home Maintenance, Real Estate Articles and Tips for Selling your Home · Comment 

Interested in ways to seal air leaks around the house to lower your heating bill?  How about saving energy with home lighting?  Planning on redoing the kitchen or bathroom?  Enter HouseLogic, a comprehensive website aimed to assist you in 100’s of home remodeling, energy saving tips.  Best of all….it’s FREE!

Earlier this week, the National Association of REALTORS (American version of CREA) launched a new website, entitled HouseLogic.  This web site is designed to help home owners make smart decisions to maintain, protect, and increase the value of their homes. HouseLogic will help consumers take responsible actions pertaining to what is likely the largest investment of their lives.

With content covering home improvement, maintenance, taxes, finance, insurance, and even ways you can get involved in and enrich your community, HouseLogic can help you increase and protect the value of your home by helping you make confident decisions.  (remember this is an American site so the taxes and finances, insurance may not be applicable here in Canada)

Create to-do lists, and set project reminders, get costs estimates on various renos and home improvements (in USD). A very informative website that has it all.  Be sure to check it out.

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Interesting Real Estate links throughout Canada

February 16, 2010 · Filed Under Real Estate Articles, Real Estate Canada, Real Estate Roundup and St. John's Real Estate · Comment 

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MLS Home sales strong according to CREA

September 15, 2009 · Filed Under St. John's Real Estate · Comment 

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has just released last months stats, and say Canadian MLS homes sales are strong for August.

Below are some paragraphs outlining the article. For the entire article click here

According to statistics released, a total of 42,483 homes traded hands via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards in August 2009. This represents an increase of 18.5 per cent from the same month last year, and the third consecutive year-over-year gain of more than 15 per cent. Sales were 6.6 per cent below the record for the month of August set in 2007.

Resale activity in August 2009 was up from year-ago levels in about approximately three-quarters of all local markets. Year-over-year gains in Vancouver (117 per cent), Toronto (27 per cent), Calgary (17 per cent) and Montreal (nine per cent) contributed most to the national increase in activity. Aggregate MLS® home sales activity for 25 major markets posted the third consecutive increase from year-ago levels of more than 20 per cent in August.

Demand continues to improve in Canada’s more expensive housing markets, drawing the national average price upward. The national MLS® residential average price rose 11.3 per cent from year-ago levels to $324,779. This is the highest national average price for the month of August.

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Canadian House Sales to rebound in 2010 says CREA

February 26, 2009 · Filed Under CREA Reports and Real Estate Canada · Comment 

In a new release from CREA earlier this month, Canadian house sales are expected to decline in 2009 but rebound back in 2010.  The full news release is below.

National MLS® home sales activity is expected to decline in 2009 before rebounding in 2010, according to a new residential housing forecast prepared by The Canadian Real Estate Association.

National MLS® home sales activity declined 17.1 per cent in 2008, and MLS® sales activity is forecast to fall an additional 16.9 per cent to 360,900 units in 2009. This would be the lowest level for national sales activity since the year 2000.  Sales activity is expected to decline from levels set in 2008 in every province, led by declines in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

National MLS® home sales activity is forecast to rebound by 9.9 per cent to 396,600 units in 2010, marked by an acceleration in activity in the second half of that year. The rebound in activity in 2010 is forecast to be biggest in British Columbia and Alberta.

New listings on the MLS® systems of real estate Boards in Canada have been trending steadily lower since peaking in the second quarter of 2008, and that trend is forecast to continue. It is that combination of rebounding sales activity and fewer new listings that will stabilize the MLS® resale housing market in 2010.

“We are caught in a cycle where consumer confidence has been eroded because of job losses, and consumer confidence is an essential ingredient for housing sales activity,” says the President of The Canadian Real Estate Association, Calvin Lindberg of Vancouver. “And housing activity helps creates jobs.”

“The essential selling ingredients in today’s market are realistic pricing, marketing, and preparation. There are potential buyers making inquiries, but the barrage of economic news makes them much more cautious than before.”

The MLS® sales forecast developed by CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump shows that fewer transactions in some of Canada’s more expensive housing markets, combined with reduced asking prices, will continue to put downward pressure on average MLS® sale prices.

The national MLS® average home price is forecast to decline eight per cent in 2009, with prices down most in Western provinces and Ontario. By contrast, the average home price in Newfoundland & Labrador is forecast to rise 4.8 percent in 2009. Prices are forecast to stabilize in 2010, with annual price increases of one per cent or less in five provinces.

The price trend is similar but less dramatic for the weighted national MLS® average price, which compensates for changes in provincial sales activity by taking into account provincial proportions of privately owned housing stock. The weighted national MLS® average price is forecast to decline 6.4 per cent in 2009, and hold steady in 2010.

“Increasingly cautious homebuyers and mortgage lenders means that active listings will take longer to sell in 2009 compared to previous years,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump.

“The national housing market is recalibrating due to weak sales activity,” said Klump. “Supply will take time to adjust to lower demand, but sellers unwilling to accept offers below their expectations will remove their home from the market,” he added. “Fewer active listings reduces buyer choice, and in time puts a floor under prices,” CREA’s Chief Economist added.

Click here for the full PDF version of this news release.
(CREA 09/02/09)

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Average Housing Price Lower across Canada

October 15, 2008 · Filed Under Real Estate Articles and St. John's Real Estate · 4 Comments 

Average price of a home in Canada fell by 6.2 per cent since last year to an average of $315,461.  It was the fourth straight month in which prices fell on a year-over-year basis.

It appears that there are still pockets of real estate markets across Canada that are still booming.  However price declines in some of Canada’s more expensive housing markets will far outweigh further price gains in other markets (ie St. John’s Real Estate market)

Calvin Lindberg, CREA president says “Informed buyers and informed sellers look at the facts. And the facts right now indicate the real estate resale market is stabilizing in many markets.”

“There have also been a number of initiatives that will have an impact going forward, including the government’s decision to invest $25 billion in insured mortgage pools, the recent drop in the Bank of Canada rate, and the new rules reducing the maximum amortization to 35 years instead of 40,” the CREA President adds. Those new mortgage rules go into effect October 15th. “The third quarter MLS® statistics and these developments are more factors showing the Canadian market is not following U.S. housing trends.”

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New MLS residential listing levels reach new heights in July

September 1, 2008 · Filed Under Market Trends and Real Estate Articles · Comment 

The number of new listings of homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) of all real estate Boards in Canada set a new record in July 2008, according to MLS® statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

New MLS® residential listings numbered 80,147 units in July 2008, up 1.4 per cent from the previous month and 0.5 per cent above the previous record set in May 2008. This is the first time in any month that new listings surpassed eighty thousand units.

The number of new listings scaled to new heights in Ontario and Quebec, and in Manitoba climbed to their second-highest level since the beginning of the new millennium. This more than offset a monthly decline in the number of new listings in Alberta, where levels continue retreating from the peak reached in March.

Seasonally adjusted national sales activity in July 2008 was stable compared to the previous month. It has been holding steady since posting a 6.0 per cent month-over-month decline in February. Monthly activity rose in Alberta, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island for the second time in as many months. Activity also rose on a month-over-month basis in Newfoundland & Labrador. The monthly increase in activity in these provinces was offset by a monthly decline in activity in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.

Sales activity set a new monthly record in Manitoba, and in Newfoundland & Labrador. It also climbed to its highest point on record for the year-to-date in these provinces.

“To keep things in perspective, 2007 was a record year for MLS® sales in Canada,” says the President of The Canadian Real Estate Association, Calvin Lindberg. “The fact that sales volume continue at levels so close to that record year indicates what a dynamic and active real estate market there is in many regions of the country.”

“The other factor is that the more listings there are on the market, the bigger the impact on the average price,” the CREA President adds. “It means a market when buyers have more options, and sellers must be realistic in their pricing expectations. A REALTOR® has expertise and marketing resources to help both.”

Resale housing market balance is represented by sales as a percentage of new listings. The continuing rise in the number of new listings is resulting in a considerably more balanced resale housing market this year than buyers faced last year. This trend is most apparent in British Columbia and Saskatchewan, which remained the most balanced provincial markets in July. The market is showing signs of stabilizing in Alberta, where new listings have declined and market balance has tightened in each of the months from April to July 2008.

“The trend for new listings generally reflects recent price trends,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “While still elevated, new listings in Alberta are easing and market balance is stabilizing now that prices there have softened. Similar trends are expected to play out in other western provinces where prices posted sharp gains last year,” he said.

The national MLS® residential average price eased by 2.4 per cent year-over-year in July 2008, compared to the average price decline of 3.6 per cent in the major markets in Canada reported by CREA earlier this month. The MLS® price decline reflects softening average prices in Alberta and an increase in the province’s share of national sales activity compared to year-ago levels. By contrast, residential average price climbed to its highest level for the month of July in all other provinces except British Columbia, and its highest level ever in Newfoundland & Labrador. Average price for the year to date (as of July 2008) is 2.7 percent above where it stood over the same period last year.

Seasonally adjusted dollar volume for MLS® sales totaled $11.8 billion in July 2008, climbing to the highest level ever in Manitoba and Nova Scotia. It also reached the highest level on record for the month of July in Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland & Labrador. Volume for the year to date in July also achieved the second highest level on record, down 16.6 per cent from the peak last year.

(CREA 29/08/08)

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Why Canada Needs Capital Gains Tax Deferrals on Real Estate

May 6, 2008 · Filed Under Real Estate Articles and St. John's Investments · 3 Comments 

Canadians are increasingly migrating to regions where new jobs are plentiful, and they must be able to move their assets with them. Households can move their furniture and their stocks and bonds, but not their real estate investments, without substantial tax consequences. Reinvestment in real property should be facilitated so that investors can reposition existing investments without punitive tax measures. The deferral will facilitate more effective management of real estate investment portfolios in recognition of the fact that Canadians are becoming more financially self-reliant in retirement.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) is recommending to the federal government to amend the Income Tax Act to promote increased reinvestment in real property. The amendment would effect a deferral of both the capital gains tax and the capital cost allowance recovery for all real property investments when an investment property is sold and the proceeds are invested in another real property within the subsequent year. Any proceeds that are eligible but not reinvested, or where such reinvestment does not meet the criteria, would be subject to capital gains tax. (Similar to the United States 1031 Exchange)

The proposal also helps make the federal government an active participant in the regeneration and intensification of urban neighborhoods. This requires properties to be turned over at a rate that is sufficient to promote regeneration.

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