joe samson's Blog: All Categories

Mayor pitches housing project Mayor Dave Bronconnier will on Monday ask city council to approve a housing incentive program -- including a pilot project offering $25,000 to anyone adding a new secondary suite in Calgary real estate. Bronconnier said the cash incentive, first pitched during his re-election campaign earlier this fall, could help spur construction of secondary suites.

“It is an attempt to address the housing crunch,” he said Friday. “We have 3,400 people living on the street in Calgary and we’ve got over 2,100 people currently on a waiting list for affordable housing. “It has reached a crisis proportion in Calgary.”

If approved by council, the pilot project would give a $25,000 interest-free loan to 50 homeowners who build new…

CBC (Special) - Canadian investors and homeowners worried about a meltdown in the real estate market here in Canada can relax.

The subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. isn't like to happen up here in the cooler, more fiscally conservative north. The Canadian housing market is not a bubble waiting to burst and owning a home is still a good investment and wealth management strategy, financial experts believe.

"You have a bubble situation when there is a lot of speculation and leverage in the market," says Patricia Lovett-Reid, senior vice-president with TD Waterhouse. "We are not seeing that in Canada now."

Lovett-Reid says Canadians don't need to be worried about the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States spilling across the border.

An…

Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals survey shows
    longer amortization and flexible terms keep mortgage industry buoyant

TORONTO, Nov. 7 /CNW/ - The vast majority of Canadians (81 per cent) are
happy with the terms of their mortgages thanks in large measure to "good
interest rates" and longer amortization options, according to a report
released today by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage
Professionals (CAAMP). Significantly, thirty seven per cent of Canadians who
have taken out a mortgage in the last year have chosen amortization periods of
more than 25 years. The information was gathered by Maritz from an online
survey of 2,000 Canadians in late September and analyzed in conjunction with
CAAMP economist,…

CREB, Nov 16 - The Harper government’s decision to cut the GST to 5 per cent, effective January 1, 2008, will significantly improve housing affordability, says the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA).

"This is great news for both home buyers and owners," CHBA President Richard Lind said. "It will help all owners who are considering renovations and all Canadians who make major household purchases." Mr. Lind said that the announcement in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s Economic Statement fully honours the Conservatives’ 2006 election commitment to reduce the GST by two per cent. "We are pleased to congratulate a government that keeps its campaign promises."

He welcomed transitional rules for the further 1 per cent reduction. This reduction…

Housing starts will reach 227,530 units in 2007, an increase of 0.1 per cent from the 227,395 units in 2006, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) fourth quarter Housing Market Outlook, Canada Edition report. However, in 2008, residential construction will decline to about 214,000 units. Despite this drop, 2008 will mark the seventh consecutive year in which housing starts exceed 200,000 units.
“Continuing high employment levels, income gains and low mortgage rates have been a boon to Canada’s housing markets. Despite this, however, housing starts are expected to decrease in 2008,” said Bob Dugan, Chief Economist at CMHC. “The pull back in housing starts next year will be mainly due to the increases in house prices in recent…

REALTORS® look to federal budget to address other issues
The tax changes outlined in the federal government’s economic statement are one step in helping Canadians buy a new home, but The Canadian Real Estate Association says the government should include other initiatives in the next federal budget, including the outstanding election promise of addressing capital gains taxes.

“The one per cent cut in the GST will provide savings to new home buyers,” says CREA CEO Pierre Beauchamp. For example, using the sliding GST scale that applies to the cost of new homes, a buyer of a $375,000 house in British Columbia would save $2, 738.
“The one per cent reduction in the GST will also help Canadians pay for home renovations, or in the purchase of appliances…

By Joe Samson, Calgary REALTOR®

The world is coming to an end! Real estate prices have already dropped $45,000 in Calgary in the last two months and the new royalties will cripple the Alberta economy due to massive project cancellations…. These were some of the headlines you could read in the media in the past weeks. But what is really going on and how is this really going to affect all of us, especially our real estate values in Alberta? A lot of self declared experts are comparing this new royalty hike to the 80’s NEP (National Energy Program) when Alberta’s economy turned into the “Great Depression” and real estate was being bought and sold for $1.

Let’s dig in and get right to the bottom of everything. The number one job of any media is to make a…

Selling your house is a bit like raising a child - everyone gives you advice that may or may not be true. Here are 10 myths uncovered:

1. Myth: Always price your home high and gradually lower it if it doesn’t sell.
Truth: Pricing too high can be as bad as pricing too low.

You may think by listing high you can always accept a lower offer, but if you do, you’ll miss the buyers looking in the price range where your home should be. Offers may not even come in, because interested buyers are scared off by the price and won’t bother to look. By the time the listing price is corrected, you will have lost a large group of potential buyers. Your real estate agent will offer you a CMA (comparable market analysis) that compares your home to other similar… Read Full Post