There's never been a better time to look for alternative investments as a part of a diversified portfolio. A recent article in the Globe and Mail stated that pension plans are shifting their investment strategies to embrace real estate and other alternative assets.
In addition to this, did you know you could invest in a Syndicate Mortgage using your TFSA and earn all the income tax free?
At Altaview Financial Group, we focused on these types of investments and we invite you to learn more about these investments at two upcoming events. If you want more information contact:
Anne Brill at (416) 289-2224
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Good things might be coming in real estate.
http://creanews.ca/2013/04/15/canadian-home-sales-rise-in-march/
Ottawa, ON, April 15, 2013 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales edged upward on a month-over-month basis in March 2013 but stayed well below levels recorded one year ago.
Highlights:
Home sales improved in more than half of all local markets from February to March, led by gains in Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Calgary, Greater Toronto, Montreal, Saskatoon, Hamilton-Burlington, and Kitchener-Waterloo.
“National sales have been holding fairly stable since last summer,” said CREA President Laura Leyser. “We’ll be watching closely as the spring market picks up to see whether the March sales increase marks the beginning of an improving trend. In the meantime, it’s important to remember that local market conditions often can and do differ from what’s reported at the national level, so buyers and sellers really should speak to their REALTOR® to understand how the housing market is shaping up where they live or might like to.”
Sales in March were constrained by the Easter holiday and an extra full weekend at the end of the month, the latter of which is known as a “trading day effect,” and both of which generally result in sales being held back. Seasonal adjustment strips out normal seasonal fluctuations and trading day effects that otherwise affect the data. It puts data on an equal footing so that data for any two months can be meaningfully compared to each other and to underlying economic fundamentals.
“Easter and trading day factors combined effectively to cut March sales short,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Activity in the months ahead will reveal whether the monthly improvement in seasonally adjusted March sales reflects technical seasonal adjustment factors or a fundamental improvement in demand.”
“That said, the factors that crimped March sales this year were not in play for the same month last year, resulting in speculation that the gap between sales activity this March and March of last year would be bigger than it was in February. That the gap in fact improved marginally speaks to the resilience of housing demand in Canada,” Klump said.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 15.3 per cent below levels reported in March 2012, compared to a year-over-year decline in February sales of 15.9 per cent. Although transactions remained down from year ago levels in more than 90 per cent of all local markets, the gap diminished in a number of large urban markets including Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Montreal, and Quebec City. As was the case in February, Edmonton was the only large urban market in which monthly sales surpassed year-ago levels.
“Analysis will likely continue to focus on how sales remain down from last year, but this shouldn’t come as a surprise given that mortgage regulations and lending guidelines at that time were yet to be tightened,” said Klump. “Since those factors came into force, national home sales have held fairly steady, notwithstanding the rise in seasonally adjusted March sales.”
The number of newly listed homes rose 3.2 per cent month-over-month in March. New listings were up in about two thirds of all local markets, led by Greater Toronto, Montreal, London and St. Thomas, and Calgary.
With sales and new listings having climbed in tandem, the national sales-to-new listings ratio was little changed at 49.9 per cent in March compared to 50.3 per cent in February. This measure has held fairly steady around this level for the past eight months. Based on a sales-to-new listings ratio of between 40 to 60 per cent, slightly over 60 per cent of all local markets were in balanced market territory in March.
The number of months of inventory is another important measure of balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and it too was little changed in March.
Nationally,
there were 6.5 months of inventory at the end of March 2013. This was
down from 6.7 months reported at the end of February, resulting from the
increase in sales combined with a third consecutive decline in the
overall supply of homes for sale. “The number of months of inventory
remains elevated but stable in the wake of recent changes to mortgage
rules and lending guidelines,” said Klump.
The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in March 2013 was $378,532, representing an increase of 2.5 per cent from the same month last year.
Fewer sales compared to year-ago levels in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto continue exerting a gravitational pull on the national average sale price, but price gains in Calgary and Edmonton are increasingly putting upward pressure on the national average.
As evidence of this, excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto from the national average price calculation yields a year-over-year increase of 4.3 per cent, while only excluding Calgary and Edmonton yields a year-over-year increase of just 1.9 per cent.
The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) is not affected by changes in the mix of sales the way that average price is. For that reason, it provides the best gauge of Canadian home price trends.
The
Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI rose 2.2 per cent on a year-over-year
basis in March. This marks the eleventh time in as many months that the
year-over-year gain shrank and the slowest rate of increase in more than
two years.
Year-over-year price gains decelerated for all Benchmark property types tracked by the index. Price growth remained strongest for one-storey single family homes (+3.4 per cent), followed by two-storey single family homes (+2.5 per cent), townhouse/row units (+2.1 per cent), and apartment units (+0.4 per cent).
Year-over-year price growth in the aggregate MLS® HPI for all Benchmark property types combined also slowed in all markets tracked by the index.
The MLS® HPI again rose fastest in Calgary (+7.7 per cent), followed by Regina (+4.2 per cent), Greater Toronto (+2.9 per cent), Greater Montreal (+2.0 per cent), and the Fraser Valley (+0.1 per cent). In Greater Vancouver, the MLS® HPI slipped further into negative territory, posting a 3.9 per cent year-over-year decline in March.
CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.
Ottawa, ON, April 15, 2013 – According to statistics released today by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales edged upward on a month-over-month basis in March 2013 but stayed well below levels recorded one year ago.
Highlights:
- National home sales rose 2.4% from February to March.
- Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 15.3% below levels in March 2012.
- The number of newly listed homes was up 3.2% from February to March.
- The Canadian housing market remains firmly in balanced territory.
- The national average sale price rose 2.5% on a year-over-year basis in March.
- The MLS® HPI rose 2.2% in March, its smallest gain in more than two years.
Home sales improved in more than half of all local markets from February to March, led by gains in Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Calgary, Greater Toronto, Montreal, Saskatoon, Hamilton-Burlington, and Kitchener-Waterloo.
“National sales have been holding fairly stable since last summer,” said CREA President Laura Leyser. “We’ll be watching closely as the spring market picks up to see whether the March sales increase marks the beginning of an improving trend. In the meantime, it’s important to remember that local market conditions often can and do differ from what’s reported at the national level, so buyers and sellers really should speak to their REALTOR® to understand how the housing market is shaping up where they live or might like to.”
Sales in March were constrained by the Easter holiday and an extra full weekend at the end of the month, the latter of which is known as a “trading day effect,” and both of which generally result in sales being held back. Seasonal adjustment strips out normal seasonal fluctuations and trading day effects that otherwise affect the data. It puts data on an equal footing so that data for any two months can be meaningfully compared to each other and to underlying economic fundamentals.
“Easter and trading day factors combined effectively to cut March sales short,” said Gregory Klump, CREA’s Chief Economist. “Activity in the months ahead will reveal whether the monthly improvement in seasonally adjusted March sales reflects technical seasonal adjustment factors or a fundamental improvement in demand.”
“That said, the factors that crimped March sales this year were not in play for the same month last year, resulting in speculation that the gap between sales activity this March and March of last year would be bigger than it was in February. That the gap in fact improved marginally speaks to the resilience of housing demand in Canada,” Klump said.
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 15.3 per cent below levels reported in March 2012, compared to a year-over-year decline in February sales of 15.9 per cent. Although transactions remained down from year ago levels in more than 90 per cent of all local markets, the gap diminished in a number of large urban markets including Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Montreal, and Quebec City. As was the case in February, Edmonton was the only large urban market in which monthly sales surpassed year-ago levels.
“Analysis will likely continue to focus on how sales remain down from last year, but this shouldn’t come as a surprise given that mortgage regulations and lending guidelines at that time were yet to be tightened,” said Klump. “Since those factors came into force, national home sales have held fairly steady, notwithstanding the rise in seasonally adjusted March sales.”
The number of newly listed homes rose 3.2 per cent month-over-month in March. New listings were up in about two thirds of all local markets, led by Greater Toronto, Montreal, London and St. Thomas, and Calgary.
With sales and new listings having climbed in tandem, the national sales-to-new listings ratio was little changed at 49.9 per cent in March compared to 50.3 per cent in February. This measure has held fairly steady around this level for the past eight months. Based on a sales-to-new listings ratio of between 40 to 60 per cent, slightly over 60 per cent of all local markets were in balanced market territory in March.
The number of months of inventory is another important measure of balance between housing supply and demand. It represents the number of months it would take to completely liquidate current inventories at the current rate of sales activity, and it too was little changed in March.
Nationally,
there were 6.5 months of inventory at the end of March 2013. This was
down from 6.7 months reported at the end of February, resulting from the
increase in sales combined with a third consecutive decline in the
overall supply of homes for sale. “The number of months of inventory
remains elevated but stable in the wake of recent changes to mortgage
rules and lending guidelines,” said Klump.The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average price for homes sold in March 2013 was $378,532, representing an increase of 2.5 per cent from the same month last year.
Fewer sales compared to year-ago levels in Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto continue exerting a gravitational pull on the national average sale price, but price gains in Calgary and Edmonton are increasingly putting upward pressure on the national average.
As evidence of this, excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto from the national average price calculation yields a year-over-year increase of 4.3 per cent, while only excluding Calgary and Edmonton yields a year-over-year increase of just 1.9 per cent.
The MLS® Home Price Index (MLS® HPI) is not affected by changes in the mix of sales the way that average price is. For that reason, it provides the best gauge of Canadian home price trends.
The
Aggregate Composite MLS® HPI rose 2.2 per cent on a year-over-year
basis in March. This marks the eleventh time in as many months that the
year-over-year gain shrank and the slowest rate of increase in more than
two years.Year-over-year price gains decelerated for all Benchmark property types tracked by the index. Price growth remained strongest for one-storey single family homes (+3.4 per cent), followed by two-storey single family homes (+2.5 per cent), townhouse/row units (+2.1 per cent), and apartment units (+0.4 per cent).
Year-over-year price growth in the aggregate MLS® HPI for all Benchmark property types combined also slowed in all markets tracked by the index.
The MLS® HPI again rose fastest in Calgary (+7.7 per cent), followed by Regina (+4.2 per cent), Greater Toronto (+2.9 per cent), Greater Montreal (+2.0 per cent), and the Fraser Valley (+0.1 per cent). In Greater Vancouver, the MLS® HPI slipped further into negative territory, posting a 3.9 per cent year-over-year decline in March.
- 30 -
PLEASE NOTE: The information contained in this news release
combines both major market and national MLS® sales information from the
previous month.CREA cautions that average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighborhoods or account for price differential between geographic areas. Statistical information contained in this report includes all housing types.
Should you take the largest mortage possible?
http://www.centum.ca/Blog/Should_you_take_the_largest_mortgage_possible
Be it at the home purchase stage which means making the smallest down payment possible, or refinancing and taking out the maximum amount of equity, many Canadian today believe that they should have the largest possible mortgage.
It seems that gone are the days of working to retire debt free, and to own your home out-right. It is this exact reason that the government has restricted the rules around mortgage lending, to try to curb the attitude that our homes are ATM machines.
We tend to forget that a mortgage is essentially assigning title to the home or granting ownership of the home to a lender. Yes, equity remaining in the home is ours and we benefit from increased value, but we do not truly own that home until it is debt free. If we do not pay the mortgage, the lender has the ability to remove us from the home. For people who took advantage of 100% financing, until they are in a positive equity situation, they are in truth renting that home as the money they are 'investing' is paying off debt.
In some situations maximizing the equity in your home might make sense. With a structured investment plan in place, you can make that equity work for you. But it is also important to remember that mortgage interest is calculated as compounded interest. I have yet to see an investment plan that so favours the investor by paying a return that is compounded at the same rate. That is not to say that using equity as an investment tool is not smart, it just means that we have to be careful to place our funds in the right investment.
The same applies to using equity in your home for home improvements. A renovation can dramatically increase the value of your home, but then also consider a few things before you proceed. Are you doing the renovations in order for the home to better function for you and your family or are you doing it simply to increase value? What are your plans with the home - live out your days there, or sell in the next five years? All of these questions and many others need to be taken into account before you make the decision to move forward.
If you want to renovate your home because you want to improve functionality or better enjoy the aesthetics of the home; your choices in finishes might be very different then if it is to get the home ready for sale. For instance: I once saw a home for sale in a middle class neighbourhood which proudly advertised that the kitchen sink was a unique high end designer brand. Out of curiosity I went online and looked it up... I was shocked to discover that the sink came with a price tag of just over $10,000.00 Canadian. I also found a sink that looked almost identical for $900.00.
I can't speak for everyone but I just can't justify in my mind paying ten thousand dollars on a sink, as I am sure most people would agree. The point is, renovations need to make sense and need to fit the home and the neighbourhood if it is your intention to simply increase the value.
This is where speaking to professionals comes into play and illustrates the need to have someone who is truly Looking out for your best interest. Be it consulting with a design professional, a realtor, investment advisor or a mortgage broker - we need to make sure that our decisions make sense for our own personal situations. It is why shopping for a mortgage by only comparing interest rate can seriously impact our financial situation in the future.
Home ownership needs to be about much more than having the biggest and best home or a mortgage with the lowest interest rate, it has to make sense and align with our lifestyle and financial goals. We need to be smart about the decisions we make today to better prepare for our future. It is why at CENTUM we encourage you to look beyond just getting a mortgage and getting a home ownership solution, the CENTUM Solution.
For more information on what we can do for you contact
Anne Brill
(416) 289-2224
716 Gordon Baker Road Unit 204 A
Toronto, ON M2H 3B4
Be it at the home purchase stage which means making the smallest down payment possible, or refinancing and taking out the maximum amount of equity, many Canadian today believe that they should have the largest possible mortgage.
It seems that gone are the days of working to retire debt free, and to own your home out-right. It is this exact reason that the government has restricted the rules around mortgage lending, to try to curb the attitude that our homes are ATM machines.
We tend to forget that a mortgage is essentially assigning title to the home or granting ownership of the home to a lender. Yes, equity remaining in the home is ours and we benefit from increased value, but we do not truly own that home until it is debt free. If we do not pay the mortgage, the lender has the ability to remove us from the home. For people who took advantage of 100% financing, until they are in a positive equity situation, they are in truth renting that home as the money they are 'investing' is paying off debt.
In some situations maximizing the equity in your home might make sense. With a structured investment plan in place, you can make that equity work for you. But it is also important to remember that mortgage interest is calculated as compounded interest. I have yet to see an investment plan that so favours the investor by paying a return that is compounded at the same rate. That is not to say that using equity as an investment tool is not smart, it just means that we have to be careful to place our funds in the right investment.
The same applies to using equity in your home for home improvements. A renovation can dramatically increase the value of your home, but then also consider a few things before you proceed. Are you doing the renovations in order for the home to better function for you and your family or are you doing it simply to increase value? What are your plans with the home - live out your days there, or sell in the next five years? All of these questions and many others need to be taken into account before you make the decision to move forward.
If you want to renovate your home because you want to improve functionality or better enjoy the aesthetics of the home; your choices in finishes might be very different then if it is to get the home ready for sale. For instance: I once saw a home for sale in a middle class neighbourhood which proudly advertised that the kitchen sink was a unique high end designer brand. Out of curiosity I went online and looked it up... I was shocked to discover that the sink came with a price tag of just over $10,000.00 Canadian. I also found a sink that looked almost identical for $900.00.
I can't speak for everyone but I just can't justify in my mind paying ten thousand dollars on a sink, as I am sure most people would agree. The point is, renovations need to make sense and need to fit the home and the neighbourhood if it is your intention to simply increase the value.
This is where speaking to professionals comes into play and illustrates the need to have someone who is truly Looking out for your best interest. Be it consulting with a design professional, a realtor, investment advisor or a mortgage broker - we need to make sure that our decisions make sense for our own personal situations. It is why shopping for a mortgage by only comparing interest rate can seriously impact our financial situation in the future.
Home ownership needs to be about much more than having the biggest and best home or a mortgage with the lowest interest rate, it has to make sense and align with our lifestyle and financial goals. We need to be smart about the decisions we make today to better prepare for our future. It is why at CENTUM we encourage you to look beyond just getting a mortgage and getting a home ownership solution, the CENTUM Solution.
For more information on what we can do for you contact
Anne Brill
(416) 289-2224
716 Gordon Baker Road Unit 204 A
Toronto, ON M2H 3B4
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
CREA numbers for March drastically down
Home sales were up slightly nationwide for the month of March, but
remain well below levels recorded from a year ago, according to
statistics released today by the Canadian Real Estate Association
(CREA).
More importantly, the Home Price Index for March rose only 2.2 per cent – its smallest gain in more than two years.
“National sales have been holding fairly stable since last summer,”
says CREA President Laura Leyser. “We’ll be watching closely as the
spring market picks up to see whether the March sales increase marks the
beginning of an improving trend.”
Home sales rose 2.4 per cent from February to March of this year, but
actual activity for March compared to the same month a year ago were
15.3 per cent below the 2012 levels.
New listings were up 3.2 per from February to March, with average sale prices up 2.5 per cent from compared to March 2012.
CREA attributes the sluggish March sales numbers to the Easter holiday
and the loss bank days due to an extra full weekend at the end of the
month – known as the “trading day effect.”
“Easter and trading day factors combined effectively to cut March sales
short,” says Gregory Klump, CREA’s chief economist. “Activity in the
months ahead will reveal whether the monthly improvement in seasonally
adjusted March sales reflects technical seasonal adjustment factors or a
fundamental improvement in demand.”
Home sales improved in more than half of all local markets from
February to March, led by gains in Greater Vancouver, Fraser Valley,
Calgary, Greater Toronto, Montreal, Saskatoon, Hamilton-Burlington, and
Kitchener-Waterloo.
“That said, the factors that crimped March sales this year were not in
play for the same month last year, resulting in speculation that the gap
between sales activity this March and March of last year would be
bigger than it was in February,” says Klump. “That the gap in fact
improved marginally speaks to the resilience of housing demand in
Canada.”
Actual (not seasonally adjusted) activity came in 15.3 per cent below
levels reported in March 2012, compared to a year-over-year decline in
February sales of 15.9 per cent. Although transactions remained down
from year-ago levels in more than 90 per cent of all local markets, the
gap diminished in a number of large urban markets, including Greater
Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Montreal, and Quebec City. As was
the case in February, Edmonton was the only large urban market in which
monthly sales surpassed year-ago levels.
“Analysis will likely continue to focus on how sales remain down from
last year, but this shouldn’t come as a surprise given that mortgage
regulations and lending guidelines at that time were yet to be
tightened,” says Klump. “Since those factors came into force, national
home sales have held fairly steady, notwithstanding the rise in
seasonally adjusted March sales.”
Monday, April 8, 2013
Save with the Tax-Free Savings Account
Save with the Tax-Free Savings Account
How Is a TFSA Different From a Registered Retirement Savings Plan?
Both an RRSP and TFSA offer tax advantages by allowing you to accumulate investment income tax-free within the plan or the account, but they have key differences.- Contributions to an RRSP are deductible and reduce your income for tax purposes. In contrast, your TFSA savings contributions are not deductible.
- Withdrawals from an RRSP are added to your income and taxed at current rates. Your TFSA withdrawals and growth within your account are not included in your income—they are tax-free.
An RRSP is primarily intended for retirement savings.
Tax assistance provided by a TFSA complements that provided through
RRSPs.
RRSP contributions are tax-deductible while RRSP withdrawals are added to income and taxed at regular rates.
TFSA contributions are not tax-deductible but the
contributions and the investment earnings are exempt from tax upon
withdrawal.
Unlike an RRSP, which must be converted to a retirement
income vehicle at age 71, a TFSA does not have any minimum withdrawal
requirement.
There is no TFSA spousal plan. Individuals can provide
funds to their spouse or common-law partner to invest in their TFSA, up
to the spouse’s or common-law partner’s available room, and the
income earned on the contributed amount is generally not attributed back
to the spouse or partner who provided the funds.
Consider consulting your bank, credit union or other financial service
provider before deciding whether to place money in an RRSP or a TFSA or
to find out the combination of contributions that is best for your
situation.
An Effective Vehicle for Your Lifetime Savings Needs
Robert withdraws $10,000 tax-free from his TFSA to renovate his home. Robert will be able to re-contribute the $10,000 to his TFSA in future years without affecting his other available contribution room. Had he used his RRSP savings, he would have needed to withdraw up to $18,000 to pay taxes and cover the cost of the renovation, and this contribution room would have been lost.Benefits of Saving in a TFSA
Because capital gains and other investment income earned in a TFSA are not taxed – even when withdrawn (either as they accrue or when they are withdrawn), a person contributing $200 a month to a TFSA for 20 years will enjoy additional savings of $11,045 compared to saving in an unregistered account.Monday, March 25, 2013
Why might the credit score I receive be different from one a lender is using?
Why might the credit score I receive be different from one a lender is using?
A credit score you order for yourself may not be the same as a score produced for a lender.This can happen even if they are created at the same time using the same information in your credit report because there are different types of credit scores that are designed to meet the needs of lenders.
A lender may put more weight on certain information depending on the reason it is calculating your score.
For example, it may want to assess your risk of becoming bankrupt or determine whether you qualify for a mortgage.
Your own credit score should still be in the same range as a score created for a lender.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Young families looking to lock in long-term
By Donald Horne | 28/02/2013 10:00:00 PM | 0 comments
“They are telling me they want a 5-, 7- or even 10-year fixed mortgage,” says Bruce Flanagan, Premiere Mortgage Centre. “These young families are very specific; they are fuelling the renaissance in the Ossington, Dufferin Grove, the Junction… the baby has arrived, and they need space for the child and all the toys.”
With rates at historical lows, the ‘Y’ Generation – also known as the Millennial Generation (20 to 30 year olds), are moving out of their condominiums and into those rejuvenated downtown neighbourhoods.
“You can find a house now (in Toronto) for $400,000 - $500,000 now. That is the big trend – people wanting to cash out of their condos,” says Flanagan. “They are having kids, growing up. They want to buy homes, with space – with a yard.”
The combination of low interest rates, more affordable housing rates within the city and the 20- to 30-year-old demographic are creating a perfect storm of young families looking for long-term mortgages.
“If you can get a 3.79 per cent mortgage on a 10-year term, why wouldn’t you?” asks Flanagan.
And Flanagan is finding that one mortgage deal quickly turns into others.
“I finished a deal with one client and I meet five more very quickly,” he says, as the young families have friends in similar situations – a baby on the way and looking to trade their condo for a house.
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