Mortgage Blog
Edmonton Home Prices Stable
April 8, 2008 by Shayla Damery
For the first quarter of 2008, Edmonton home prices have remained fairly stable. According to Marc Perras, the president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, “now it the time to be buying”, mostly because there is a good selection of homes on the market right now (there were 9,464 listed at the end of March), but also because we saw an interest rate decrease at the beginning of March.
The average price of single family homes increased to $386,632 last month, and the average price of condos decreased by 0.48% to $263,023. The average price of ...
Read more »Mortgage Market Update
April 7, 2008 by First Foundation
As a quick update to the rapidly changing mortgage market, I wanted to post some recent interest rate news as well as provide a bit of insight into what is going on in the market.
Usually the competition by mortgage lenders in Canada - particularly in the colder areas of the country - really heats up in the spring. That's because most buyers are looking for homes after the snow melts. This year is no exception, and we've been seeing a lot of competition in the form of "Quick Close" specials and "Spring Promotions" from a variety of our lenders ...
Read more »April 2008 Mortage and Housing Statistics
April 4, 2008 by Shayla Damery
On April 4th, 2008, the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) released their April issue of CAAMP Stats. The publication includes information such as the Bank of Canada Interest Rate, the US Federal Reserve Discount Rate, new housing starts, and more. To view the full publication, please continue reading.
To learn more about CAAMP, please visit their website.
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Buying Versus Renting
April 3, 2008 by First Foundation
Is it better to buy or to rent? That's the question that many of us ask ourselves when thinking about purchasing a home, especially in a housing market like Edmonton's. If you find yourself asking the same question, we've found an excellent buy vs. rent calculator. You can try it out here, and see which scenario would work best for you.
Our friends over at Coldwell Banker Johnston Real Estate, the home of the Edmonton Real Estate Blog, deserve the credit for digging up this calculator for one of their recent blog posts. You can read the ...
Read more »Terwilligar Towne Home for Sale!
March 20, 2008 by First Foundation
First Foundation loves to help out our friends and customers whenever we can. So in keeping with that notion, we thought we would post a link to a house for sale to see if we can help our friends sell it.
The home is located in the award-winning southwest Edmonton community of Terwilligar Towne. It is 1731 square feet in size, plus it has a developed basement, large deck, and a fully fenced and landscaped yard. It also has hardwood flooring, slate tile, huge bedrooms, and nine-foot ceilings.
This home is move-in ready and a huge value for the asking ...
Albertans Pay Off Their Mortgages Faster!
March 20, 2008 by First Foundation
On March 20, 2008, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released the results of their annual Mortgage Consumer Survey. This survey is conducted each fall to collect information on mortgage consumer behavior, attitudes and expectations. The survey focuses mostly on recent home purchasers, but also includes consumers renewing or refinancing their mortgage.
Eighty-two percent of Albertans surveyed say that they are going to pay off their mortgage as quickly as possible, quite often quicker than they initially planned. This is about four percent above the national average of seventy-eight percent.
One strategy that Albertans are using to accomplish this ...
Tax Deductible Mortgage - The Smith Manoeuvre
March 18, 2008 by First Foundation
Make your Canadian Mortgage Tax Deductible
With our help you can make your Alberta mortgage tax deductible. Stop the trend where you spend countless years paying off your mortgage. Other Canadians are transforming their house mortgage loans into free tax refunds, and are reducing huge amounts of mortgage interest with after-tax income. You can do this, too!
Mortgage Tax Deductible with the Smith Manoeuvre
As a tax strategy, The Smith Manoeuvre is designed to convert the non-deductible interest debt of a house mortgage to a deductible-interest debt of an investment loan. It is a legal and common practice to deduct ...
Read more »Prices of Homes Climbing Slowly
March 11, 2008 by First Foundation
The number of properties that were sold in February 2008 were 1,287, which is a slight increase since January. However, total listings at the end of February were 8,284, which is 12.7% higher than at the end of January.
The average price of residential real estate is still increasing overall, albeit in small increments – from January to February it increased by 1.9% to rest at $338,347. Single family dwellings increased in price by 0.6% to $381,965. Condos also increased (by 2.4%) to an average price of $264,204. Duplexes and rowhouses were ...
Read more »February 2008 Mortage and Housing Statistics
March 11, 2008 by Shayla Damery
On March 7th, 2008, the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) released their March issue of CAAMP Stats. The publication includes information such as the Bank of Canada Interest Rate, the US Federal Reserve Discount Rate, new housing starts, and more. To view the full publication, please continue reading.
To learn more about CAAMP, please visit their website.
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The Advantage of ARMs and VRMs
March 10, 2008 by Shayla Damery
In light of the recent announcement that the Bank of Canada has cut its overnight lending rate by 0.5%, it's appropriate to write a bit more about the benefits of adjustable/variable rate mortgages (ARMs and VRMs).
Adjustable/variable rate mortgages are mortgages whose interest rate fluctuates as the prime lending rate changes. The prime rate is tied directly to the Bank of Canada's overnight lending rate (unlike fixed mortgage rates, which are based on bond prices). While choosing a fixed rate mortgage will lock in your interest rate for your mortgage term, a variable/adjustable ...
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