Tag Archives: mortgage
Low Mortgage Rates Help Canadian Housing Market Rebound
Housing Sales Continue To Grow
The CREA report for June, 2009 had some very encouraging numbers:
Sales in June were up 8.7% from May, 2009.
June sales were 17.9% higher than those in June of the previous year.
Increased sales and fewer new listings have caused inventories to drop to their lowest levels since August, 2007. Low inventories are important to ensure that price increases become more widespread.
Average home prices increased by 1.7% over June, 2008.
Increases were recorded across the country, but were especially strong in the west. B.C. led the way with nearly 40% more homes being sold year over year. Double-digit gains were made elsewhere too: Saskatchewan was up 25.2%, Alberta 22.2%, and Ontario 15.7%.
CREA also predicts that activity in the second half of the year will match or exceed the results in the first half.
There are many reasons for the robust performance of Canada’s housing market. It seems Canadians learned a lot from the real estate bust of the early 1990s. Because of that experience, the Canadian government introduced tighter rules for borrowing money, which helped Canada avoid the type of subprime lending that caused so much damage to the U.S. housing market.
Another key difference between this recession and the previous housing bust is interest rates. In the early 1990s, borrowing costs were rising, but this time around, interest rates have been very low. As reported in the Calgary Herald, Millan Mulraine of TD Securities noted that Canada’s relatively stable housing market and healthy banking sector allowed homebuyers to take full advantage of lower interest rates and lower prices.
Housing Starts Are Also Up
Another positive sign emerged in the market for new homes. Housing starts were up 8% in June over May of 2009. Again, the results were strongest in western Canada, where urban housing starts in the Prairie provinces increased by 60% and those in B.C. jumped by 25%. In Ontario and Québec – hard hit by manufacturing job losses – the numbers were not as strong. Ontario had an increase of only 3% in urban housing starts, while Québec experienced a decline of 6%. Atlantic Canada also experienced a drop of 4%.
Overall, the numbers for housing starts were much higher than analysts had expected.
All told, the figures for June housing sales and starts seem to indicate that the Canadian housing market is gaining strength. And with mortgage rates still affordable, this may be an ideal time to shop for a new home.
Find More Home Mortgage Articles
How to Get Mortgage Relief With So Many Modification Companies Out There
The big question is “How To Get Mortgage Relief”?
There are hundreds of companies that have arisen since the “Mortgage Relief Plan” of our government. How could you possibly know which company can really help you in this financial crises. With estimated three million homes going into foreclosure by the end of 2010, many homeowners have been victim to long hold times, no call back, many promises and little or know results from the hundreds of “Mod Companies” that promise the world. More than a million loans, written during the height of the lending boom, are scheduled to reset to Interest rates that many homeowners will no longer be able to afford.
There Is Hope!
Here some things that you can do to determine which companies are going to help you :
Ask the company for testimonials or referrals from existing clients? If the company doesn’t have testimonials or referral letters, then I would be a little concerned. Any professional service business should have a list of satisfied clients.
Ask what there procedure is to ensure that you will get what you need? The company should have a complete step by step procedure to share with you, so you will understand in completely.
How long has this company been in business? If the company has only been established for 2 years or less, they might not have developed a great service plan for their industry to service their clients. It takes usually 3-5 years in business to deal with trial and error.
What is the background of the company? Check the company on google, look for complaints or disputes.
What is the guarantee of the services? If the company does not perform the way they claim what kind of refund is available?
How many employees do they have? Ask for permanent employees, if they have more temperary employees than permanent, I would have concerns.
What is the average time frame to complete the transactions? Ask them how long will the process take from the point of the first interaction to the last transaction. Most modifications should take around 30-90 days to complete.
I have written this article to hopefully give a small glimpse of clarity on How To Get Mortgage Relief for all you who are in the middle of this financial crises in our country. There are good companies out there that are willing to do all the right things to help America get back on its feet through knowing the client needs, demanding excellence from their associates, enforcing a strict guideline for excellent customer service. And most of all having the experience and knowledge to help you feel safe and secure about trusting their establishment to take care of you.
Find More Home Mortgage Articles