Ottawa Market Update - January 2009
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 530 residential properties in January through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 652 in January 2008, a decrease of 18.7 per cent. There were 467 sales in December 2008... Read More... Courtesy of The Ottawa Real Estate Board
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Making Homes Safer for Kids
New parents who babyproof their home normally place plastic covers over the electrical outlets, but revisions to the Canadian Electrical Code announced Thursday mean that some day that will no longer be necessary. The updated code requires new homes to have tamper-resistant receptacles, designed to prevent children from inserting objects such as hairpins, keys and nails that could cause them to receive a shock. The new receptacles have a built-in shutter system... Read More... Courtesy of the Globe and Mail
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Buying a Condo: Who you Need on Your Team
When you buy a condo, you’re not just buying a place to live. You’re becoming part of a community. Before you make an offer on your dream condo, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) recommends that you get some expert advice to help you navigate through the process. CMHC has identified many industry professionals who are available to provide you with information... Read More... Courtesy of The Toronto Star
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Real Estate Appraisers Face Big Changes
The appraisal industry has justifiably come under fire for its role in the great housing bust. Property appraisals, required by lenders before a loan is made, are supposed to provide an independent assessment of the home's value. But during the boom, appraisers routinely signed off on a doubling or tripling of home values, sometimes racked up in just a matter of months. Investment properties were appraised at prices that made no investment sense... Read More... Courtesy of Business Week
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U.S. Mortgage Insurers Press Ottawa to Fully Guarantee Policies
U.S.-based mortgage insurance companies are pressing the federal government to fully guarantee their home insurance policies in the pending federal budget. Genworth Financial and American International Group, are fighting to raise existing government guarantees of private mortgage insurance to 100% from the 90%. It would make the federal government ultimately liable for all of the hundreds of billions of dollars in insured mortgage debt... Read More... Courtesy of The Globe and Mail
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Banks Provide Relief with Mortgage Cuts
Consumers pinched by the credit crunch are getting some relief as lenders lower their rates on both fixed and variable mortgages. Lenders including Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Toronto-Dominion Bank and CIBC are slicing mortgage rates shortly after the Bank of Canada cut its key lending rate to a historic low of 1 per cent. The banks quickly followed suit, passing on the full central bank cut by lowering their prime rates half a percentage point to 3%... Read More... Courtesy of The Globe and Mail
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CREA Seeks to Jump-Start Housing with RRSP Change
The real estate industry wants the federal government to bolster the housing market, as it bids goodbye to a bleak 2008 and braces for an even tougher year ahead. The Canadian Real Estate Association is asking the Feds to broaden the Home Buyer's Plan, which allows some home buyers to withdraw RRSP funds for their purchases. CREA is asking Ottawa to raise the limit on RRSP withdrawals by first-time home buyers by $5,000, to $25,000, and extend the program to anyone buying a home... Read More... Courtesy of The Globe and Mail
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Make Sure You Understand Your Warranty
So you want to buy a new home. Maybe you visit a model home or a builder's showroom. You take a look around the proposed development, choose "your" lot from the plans, put down a deposit and you wait patiently. Eventually your new house is ready and you have the pre-delivery inspection. Maybe you find a few problems - hopefully just minor, cosmetic ones - that you report to the builder for repair, and then you move in and live happily ever after... Read More... Courtesy of The Globe and Mail
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Feds Consider Tax Credit for Home Renovations
The Harper government has been floating the idea of a tax credit for home renovations - an idea that could deliver significant stimulus for Canada's residential construction industry in the Jan. 27 budget. Deliberations continue as Canada's premiers meet today in Ottawa to put the final touches on a budget request for Prime Minister Stephen Harper - one that sources say will include more cash for employment training, more benefits for the jobless and extra funding for infrastructure...Read More... Courtesy of the Globe and Mail
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How do They Calculate Changes in Home Prices?
The problem with home price statistics is that there are an infinite number of ways to calculate and compare them. New Statistics Canada numbers released yesterday, for example, give an idea of what's happening with newly-built homes (but not the resale of older homes). They show a 0.3-per-cent decrease in new-home prices in November, 2008, compared with the previous month, but a 0.7-per-cent increase compared with November of 2007... Read More... Courtesy of The Globe and Mail
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Ottawa Real Estate 2009 - All Eyes on the Western Front
Kanata market one to watch in 2009, experts say. The federal government's search for millions of square feet of office space － and whether it will find it in Kanata － will be the story to watch in early 2009, say several local commercial real estate brokers. Just before Christmas, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) announced it was interested in procuring 3.875 million square feet of office space in the National Capital Region. The largest requirement is for 2.85 million square feet... Read More... Courtesy of The Ottawa Business Journal
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Efficiency Rules Kick in for New Ontario Houses
New energy-efficiency standards are set to kick in for new homes in Ontario. Effective Thursday, the province's building code will require near full-height insulation on foundation walls in all new-home construction. The province estimates that such homes will be typically about 28 per cent more energy efficient than a decade ago. The new requirement is the second step in a three-phase approach to energy efficiency brought in with the introduction of the 2006 Building Code... Read More... Courtesy of The Globe and Mail
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Converting Heritage Buildings for Commercial Use in Ottawa
As residential infill policies add more residents to historic neighbourhoods in Ottawa, demand for heritage buildings converted for commercial use – especially those in the downtown area – is expected to increase, say real estate observers. Leasing and selling heritage properties has traditionally been a niche market, often catering to companies in 'creative' sectors such as architecture and communications who typically incorporate the building into their corporate image... Read More... Courtesy of The Ottawa Business Journal
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