Edmonton Real Estate Blog

A good credit report and credit score are important factors in determining whether or not you will be approved for a mortgage. Here are some simple steps you can take to maintain a good credit history and improve your chances of being approved.

What is a Credit Score

Your credit score is a number that illustrates your financial health at a specific point in time. It also serves as an indicator of your financial past, and how consistently you pay off your bills and debts. This is one of the factors mortgage professionals consider in qualifying you for a mortgage.

How to Check Your Credit Score

To find out your credit score, contact Canada’s two credit-reporting agencies: Equifax Canada at www.equifax.ca and TransUnion Canada at www.transunion.ca.

For a fee, these agencies will provide you with an online copy of your credit score as well as a credit report – a detailed summary of your credit history, employment history and personal financial information on file. You can also obtain a free copy of your credit report by mail. If you find any errors in your report, notify the credit-reporting agency and the organization responsible for the inaccuracy immediately.

If You Do Not Have a Credit Score

It’s important to begin building a credit history as early as possible. You can begin to build one by applying for – and responsibly using – a credit card. Your financial institution or mortgage professional can help.

How to Improve Your Credit Score

Demonstrating your ability to manage credit is key to maintaining a good credit score. There are a number of things you can do to improve your credit score.

These include:

• Always pay your bills in full and on time. If you cannot pay the full amount, try to pay at least the required minimum shown on your monthly statement.

• Pay off your debts (such as loans, credit cards, lines of credit, etc.) as quickly as possible.

• Never go over the limit on your credit cards, and try to keep your balances well below the limits.

• Reduce the number of credit card or loan applications you make.

Once your credit score has improved, work with your mortgage professional to obtain a mortgage that works for you.

Find Out More

To find out more about credit scores and reports, visit the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada website at http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca and download or request a free copy of their guide, Understanding Your Credit Report and Credit Score. This guide provides practical, straightforward information on how to obtain and understand your credit report and score, as well as how to build and maintain a good credit.

Source: CMHC Resource

The average housing prices quoted by the Board are influenced by two factors. If the prices paid on particular properties are rising then it will push up the average price. But if the actual prices are constant, the average could still increase because of the product mix in the period.

Right now there is a shortage of attractive, lower priced homes in this market because the low interest rates and increased migration have created a demand for housing for entry level buyers. Existing home owners are also taking advantage of the lower interest rates and the equity gain since 2006 and are buying in more expensive neighbourhoods. With less homes sold at the low end, the average price is pushed up as current owners move up-market to find a home. The relative number of homes sold in the $450 – 650k price range increased from 12.2% to 14.5% year-over-year while the percentage of homes under $300,000 dropped from 40.7% of the market to 38.2%.

It is important that REALTORS® explain this phenomenon to their sellers so that they don’t have unrealistic pricing expectations. The increase in average price may not increase the market value of a particular property. Just because the market is rising, does not mean that buyers will pay more than the market price in a given neighbourhood for a home. The CMA will reveal if prices for comparable homes are rising with the market or are showing a more moderate rate of increase.

Source: Realtors Association of Edmonton

To take advantage of these rates call:

Chita Rattanarasy

The Mortgage Group Alberta Ltd.

780-932-2225

Edmonton is the second-best market in the country to invest in housing, says real estate analyst Don Campbell.
“Population growth is strong, job growth is strong and things are supporting this market quite nicely, said Campbell, founding partner of the Real Estate Investment Network, a business that provides resources and information on real estate to members.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to be another ‘07 where it just got into pure frenzy, but I think you’ll see late this year and early 2014 — which is a year behind Calgary as always — that the market will really start to push up.”
Home-buying demand will start taking off late this year while prices will begin rising next spring, Campbell says.
He bases that prediction on a formula where demand and prices come about 18 months after increased rents, which in turn follow decreased vacancies, increased demand for rental housing and growing population. All of those are triggered by earlier economic and job growth.

“We’re going to see a lot of listings come on during this year as well,” Campbell said, noting a current undersupply of listings.
Investors who bought too many properties in 2007, 2008 and 2009 will see the increased buying demand as a chance to sell, he said.
“The market’s barely moved in Edmonton as far as value. It’s a good window of opportunity before it starts to heat up again to get into the market. From an investment point of view, your rents are going up.”
He said when suites go vacant, landlords will raise rents by $150 to $200 per month.
“That will make renters think twice about renting rather than buying and that will happen over the next 12 or 18 months.”
Edmonton is second only to Calgary as the best place to invest in Canada in residential real estate. Campbell rates Hamilton as third because of its diversifying economy and job growth. Campbell was in Edmonton to promote his latest book The Little Book of Real Estate Investing in Canada. Royalties from the book go to Habitat for Humanity.

By Bill Mah, Edmonton Journal
© Copyright The Edmonton Journal

CALGARY — Members of Generation Y strongly desire a house of their own but they’re pessimistic about their ability to do so, according to a new Royal LePage Real Estate survey released on Wednesday.

The survey, which was conducted by Leger Marketing, said 80.9 per cent of the Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1994) respondents said they have plans to move to another primary residence at some point in the future with 39 per cent stating a move is planned within the next two years.

However, the majority of the young generation feel pessimistic about their ability to own a home because of current house price affordability as 44.2 per cent ‘somewhat agree’ with this feeling and 28.3 per cent ‘strongly agree’.

“While Generation Y is more likely to rent their primary residence at this stage in their lives, they do not see this as desirable long-term solution,” said the real estate firm. “An overwhelming 85.7 per cent disagreed with the statement that ‘I do not desire to own a property in my lifetime as renting is preferable to me’.”

Of those who are planning a move, 55.1 per cent of Generation Y intend to purchase their next primary residence while 32.6 per cent plan to rent.

mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/MTone123
Source: MARIO TONEGUZZI, CALGARY HERALD MARCH 20, 2013

The international luxury real estate market remains relatively immune to the economic and political trends that drive the general housing market and is off to strong start in 2013, according to a report from high-end real estate affiliate network Christie’s International Real Estate.

The report compared 10 top property markets around the world: London, New York, Hong Kong, Paris, San Francisco, France’s Cote d’Azur, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Miami. The company, a subsidiary of Christie’s auction house, also rolled out a new index, the Christie’s International Real Estate Index, which ranks markets across metrics such as record sales price, prices per square foot, percentage of non-local and international purchasers, and the number of luxury listings relative to population.

The 10 markets were also chosen for the network’s strong market share locally. Christie’s International Real Estate has 125 affiliated brokerages in 41 countries.

London, which topped the index, achieved a record sales price of more than $121 million for a residential property in 2012, followed by an $88 million sale in New York. In all of the cities studied except Dallas and Toronto, the highest sales price for the year exceeded $35 million, the report said.

Economist Robert Shiller has predicted U.S. home prices will rise only one or two percent a year in inflation-adjusted terms for the next half decade due to “lingering uncertainties” in world economies, the report said. By contrast, a study by the The Boston Consulting Group expects global sales of personal luxury goods, such as fine art, to grow about 7 percent annually through 2014, assuming there are no new major economic crises, the report added.

“Except where there is government intervention luxury residential real estate values will likely follow luxury goods and not the general housing market, and are therefore poised to increase in many of the cities studied in 2013,”  the report said. “This is particularly true as (high-net-worth individuals) turn their luxury investments toward nonconsumables and experiential luxury products that have lasting value.”

Report: Wealthy continue to pay top dollar for trophy properties
BY INMAN NEWS, MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013.

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Edmonton’s Macewan Area Real Estate Listings and Sales statistics from your Team Leading Edge Macewan specialist… Serge Bourgoin

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Any dark clouds that are currently hanging over Alberta will clear by 2014, paving the way for strong business and consumer activity, says a report by RBC Economics.

The bank’s latest Provincial Outlook, released Tuesday, said the province’s economy will continue its “impressive boom” through 2013, after leading the country’s economic growth in 2012, despite facing challenges.

RBC forecasts a provincial real GDP growth rate of three per cent due to strong crude oil production as well as high levels of capital investment, employment and population growth. This will be second in the country behind the 5.1 per cent growth expected in Newfoundland & Labrador.

RBC is predicting Alberta will lead the country in economic growth of 4.2 per cent in 2014.

In December, RBC forecast growth of 3.5 per cent this year for the province. The forecast for 2014 has remained the same.

“Even though the province recently announced a $2 billion budget deficit, Alberta is unquestionably in the midst of an impressive economic boom – particularly with capital investment fuelling manufacturing and wholesalers’ sales. Attractive employment opportunities are also bringing new migrants to the province, boosting population growth and in turn, consumer spending,” said Craig Wright, senior vice-president and chief economist at RBC. “As the economy continues to thrive across the majority of key industries, Alberta will remain at the top-end of Canada’s economic growth rankings this year.”

Economic growth in the province in 2011 was 5.1 per cent followed by 3.5 per cent last year.

Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial, said Alberta’s economy is moderating somewhat.

“So I think we will see probably a slower year for growth than what we saw in 2011 or 2012,” said Hirsch. “A lot of that of course prompted by those softer energy prices and maybe a little bit of pullback by the provincial government. But I think we’re still going to see kind of a nice moderate healthy level of growth of around 2.5 to three per cent.

“Going forward beyond that it gets trickier and we don’t really do forecasts beyond 2013 but I would still see 2014 as a pretty good year … It’s not going to feel quite like the boom years of 2006, 2007 either. We’re just going to have nice healthy moderate growth.”

RBC said there are a few weak spots in Alberta’s economic outlook. Investment intentions in the oil and gas sector are essentially flat for 2013. RBC said Alberta’s energy developers’ plans are being weighed down by rapidly rising energy production in the U.S., pipeline bottlenecks and the ‘bitumen bubble’, all of which contributed to lower crude oil prices in Canada relative to global benchmarks late in 2012.

“Weaker than expected oil prices put a multibillion dollar hole in Alberta government’s revenues, and led to a 2013 provincial budget that detailed renewed public sector spending restraint,” said Wright. “Still, any pullback in capital spending will be short-lived as pipeline issues are addressed and crude oil price relationships normalize.”

RBC trimmed its real GDP growth forecast for Canada to 1.8 per cent through 2013, following softer-than-expected growth in 2012. For 2014, it is forecasting 2.9 per cent growth across the country. In December, it forecast growth of 2.4 per cent this year and 2.8 per cent in 2014.

“After boasting a relatively strong economic performance over the past several years, Canada’s economy hit a speed bump in late 2012,” said Wright. “That said, financial conditions continue to support growth. As confidence recovers, business spending should accelerate, albeit at a less rapid pace than we saw in the early days of expansion.”

Source: Calgary Herald