Forecast: Stable Home Sales, Mortgage Rates in 2011

By some reports, including those by Statistics Canada and TD Canada Trust released this week, real estate speculators hoping to take advantage of a housing market crash may be waiting a long time.

Housing sales activity weakened in the latter half of 2010, but home prices didn’t tank like some feared after the boom earlier in the year. Statistics Canada figures released today show that indexed new housing prices across Canada rose for the third consecutive month in October, albeit modestly. Leading the way was Saskatoon, driven by lower unemployment and higher labour costs than in other Canadian cities. Calgary was among those markets that saw a dip in prices.

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Home Sales Up Again in September

The Vancouver Sun is now reporting on the newest housing sales statistics for the month of September…and guess what? Sales increased in September from the month before. The article states that there is more balance in the market now due to less properties for sale and a further decrease in mortgage interest rates has also helped.

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When You Should NOT Buy Or Own a Home

I have been reading the content of my website recently and I feel many of the things I write are helpful to new or experienced owners or real estate and much of it is positive information about the real estate market and encouraging of others to buy a home or use home equity to refinance your mortgage to improve your financial situation.

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Vancouver housing starts increase dramatically

Evidence of strength in the Vancouver housing market recently has been reported by the Vancouver Sun. The increase in housing starts, which is basically the the building of new homes, has increased across all of Canada in August of 2010 compared to August of 2009, and Vancouver is regarded as the 5th hottest market for housing of 27 markets across Canada.

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Vancouver Real Estate Sales Rise for First Time Since March

As stated in this article in the Vancouver Sun, the Canadian Real Estate Association has come out with new data for August showing home sales had increased 4.1% from July. This appears to indicate that the market is fairly stable for properties and sales, despite the numerous mortgage lending restrictions imposed upon the market over the past year in an attempt to protect the real estate market.

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7 Ways To Build and Improve Your Credit Rating

I quite often meet with new clients who want to apply for financing and are looking for the best “A” mortgage rate possible. Everything looks good…until I check their credit. There are many different cases where clients of mine have poor credit for no really good reason. It is always rationalized to me by saying “The minimum payment is only $10 per month, I didn’t think it was a big deal” or something similar to that effect.

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Major Bank Cuts Fixed Mortgage Rates to Spur Home Sales

There was an article today from the Financial Post about one of the major banks decreasing their interest rates. It is great free advertising for them, and I can only wish that a national newspaper would give me free press every time I had a mortgage lender that lowered interest rates, as all of my mortgage lenders have also done.

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The Sky Still Isn’t Falling – Canadian Home Prices Continue to Rise

The Globe and Mail has an article out today on how Canadian home prices are continuing to rise despite the slower activity in the market recently. While these figures do not take into account July sales numbers, it is still a positive sign for everyone that believes the bubble on the housing market is bursting and that prices are going to go down significantly.

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It is a Great Time to Refinance Your Mortgage

Each day I wake up and I check my email…and it seems like every day I am getting new notices about lower and lower rates. Last April I thought that rates were extremely low, and after fixed rates quickly went back up 1% I thought that we had seen the bottom…but it appears we are hitting a new all time low in fixed rate mortgages!

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