Buyers were on the hunt for houses in March

Buyers favoured houses in the suburbs and condos in pricier urban communities in March, according to sales results released Wednesday for the Lower Mainland’s main property markets.

March sales showed an improvement from a year ago, but transactions continued to trend below their 10-year average, according to the reports.

“There has been a consistent balance between homeseller supply and homebuyer demand in our marketplace over the last year,” said Ray Harris, the newly installed president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, in a news release.

Click here to read the complete article from the Vancouver Sun.

Tax Time - Do you Buy an RRSP or Pay Down Your Mortgage?

At this time every year the perennial question arises, pay down the mortgage or top up the RRSP? Traditionally the answer has been, top up the retirement savings and use the tax refund to make an extra mortgage payment. It is not bad advise but there are those who say, "mortgage first".

They argue that paying off your mortgage will give you much more financial freedom. No mortgage payments means more money in the bank and if you need to borrow you can use a home equity line of credit with a preferred interest rate. They also point out that price appreciation on your home is a permanent, tax free capital gain. RRSP contributions are just a tax deferral. Further, they say, any unused RSP contribution room is always available, it never expires. You can use it whenever you have the money.

Either way though - mortgage or RRSP - they say doing one or the other is better than doing nothing.

Housing Outlook Is Positive for 2014

"Housing demand in the province has nearly fully recovered from the 2012 downturn" said Cameron Muir, BCREA chief economist. "Over the next year, BC will be the beneficiary of a more robust global economic growth, led by a resurgent US economy and a favourable exchange rate. The resulting boost in employment will help underpin the housing market."



Home prices are expected to increase 1.8% this year and a further 1.7% in 2015.

Talk of rising interest rates no reason for home owners to panic

Talk of rising interest rates tend to make homeowners jittery and, if you have a big mortgage, you may be feeling extra nervous, but experts say not to panic.

Peter Veselinovich, vice-president of banking and mortgage operations with Investors’ Group in Winnipeg, stated that while rate increases are expected, any change will not be as dramatic as the Bank of Canada announced earlier this month.

A change in interest rates would translate to higher mortgage payments, although that would only apply to people with variable rate mortgages, since fixed-rate mortgages don’t change for the duration of their term.

Most home owners currently have fixed-rate, five-year mortgages. The mortgages come with the peace of mind of knowing what your payment will be for the duration of the term.

Click here to read the complete article from the Globe and Mail

7 Reasons Why Your New Years Resolutions Fail and How to Fix Them

Did you know that at least 5 studies show that about 90% of your New Year's resolutions will fail within the first 30 days?

You could argue that point but I bet if you took a moment to reflect on your past resolutions, you  would be forced to agree. Does that mean you are weak and incapable of bettering yourself? Of course not! It does mean that we need a little help setting goals that actually work.

Here are 7 mistakes that most people make when setting their new year's resolutions and how to fix them. Here are the 7 reasons.

1: They don't write them down.
2: They don't ever review their goals after New Year's Day.
3: They focus on setting many goals instead of focusing on one.
4: They make broad, ambiguous goals.
5: They don't make themselves accountable.
6: They don't change their normal patterns.
7: They forget to focus on the present.

Click here to read the entire article from Successify

2013 Mortgage stats, Where do you fit in?

16% of homes purchased in 2013 had amortizations over 25 years
8% of respondents believe the housing bubble will burst within the next five years
82% of new mortgages for homes purchased in 2013 were fixed rate mortgages
2% of buyers with less than 20% down chose a variable rate mortgage
40% of new mortgages in 2013 were obtained from a mortgage broker.
70% of households with mortgages have 25% or more equity
57% of 2013 homebuyers were first-time buyers
84% of mortgages on homes purchased in 2013 had an original amortization of 25 years or less
16% of borrowers  increased the amount of their payments in the past year - the average monthly increase was  $400
17% of borrowers  made a lump sum payment - the average amount was $14,000

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

43% of current mortgage holders  consulted a mortgage broker about getting a new mortgage
68% of respondents agreed their mortgages are "good debt"

INTEREST RATES

3.23% is the average mortgage interest rate for mortgages on homes purchased in 2013
3.20% is the average mortgage interest rate for mortgages renewed in 2013, which averaged 0.82 percentage point lower than prior to their renewal

EQUITY TAKE-OUT

11%  of homeowners took equity out of their home in the past year with $57,000 the average amount
$59 billion is the estimated amount of total equity take-out in the past year
$16.6 billion was used for debt consolidation and repayment
$15.1 billion was used for investments
$12.3 billion was used for home renovations

REAL ESTATE/MORTGAGE MARKET

9.52 million: The number of homeowners in Canada
4.28 million: The number of renters in Canada
5.58 million: The number of homeowners with mortgages (who may also have a home equity line of credit (HELOC))
3.94 million: The number of homeowners who are mortgage-free
2.3 million: Number of total homeowners who have HELOCs

This Week in Economc and Real Estate News

Two of Canada's banks issued economic forecasts last week and each contained predictions which impact the housing market.

RBC's Home Re-Sale and Price Forecast calls for re-sale activity to be flat at just over 453,000 units for this year and through 2014. RBC says that average Canadian home prices will appreciate at 2.8% annually by the end of the year but 2014 will see only a 0.5% increase in average prices.

TD Bank's Long Term Economic Forecast looks much further forward - all the way to 2017. It predicts that Canada's economy, lead by exports, will post growth rates of 2.4% in 2014 and 2.6% in 2015.

The Bank of Canada's overnight rate, now at 1%, is forecast to hit 1.5% by the end of 2014, 2% in 2015 and 3.25% by the end of 2017.

So expect the variable rate to finally start rising next year, but in a very controlled slow fashion.