Recent Blog Posts by Szabolcs Pall

Will house prices go down?

Did you know that while CREA (Canadian Real Estate Association) is predicting that home prices next year will be down approximately 2.2%, they will have increased by 1.5% from over 2009.  To put it into perspective, your $350,000 home may decrease in price by about $2,500.  This is hardly anything to get into panic about, and please remember, that it's the local stats that matter.  ...

Considering Selling? Some things to ask yourself first!

We're faced decisions throughout our normal day, and usually get them right without much difficulty. But while each of us is well equipped to make every day decisions, it’s not always so simple.  When we consider selling our home, that decision is one that obviously requires much greater scrutiny. Consider the following: How much equity do I currently have? - The amount of money you ...

Hottest April on record for resale housing market

Hottest April on record for resale housing market Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,841 residential properties in April through the Board's Multiple Listing Service® system compared with 1,591 in April 2009, an increase of 15.7 per cent. Of those sales, 425 were in the condominium property class, while 1,416 were in the residential property class. The condominium property class ...

Why change the mortgage rules?

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net How do you characterize our current real estate market?  Lots of buyers, not enough homes. Homes are selling at over and above the asking price as demand pushes excited home buyers, nervous at the thought of losing out on a home, to bid full asking price sometimes without conditions. While active listings are down from last year, we are already ...

When should you buy a home?

There is no better time to get in the market then now!  This is something you may hear repeated often but it definetly rings true today! Consider the following: The dollar is at about .95US again, the stock market has survived the bad news coming out of Dubai and is once more pushing towards 12,000 points.  Overnight lending rate by major banks is still hovering at all time lows and the ...

4 Stats That Make Sense

Here are 4 stats that make sense and every REALTOR® should be able to tell you right off the bat! 1) Days on Market.  This information can be used to inform the customer how long homes are sitting on the market.  The better you price the product, the faster you can expect to move it.  Don't make the mistake of pricing too high, as the house will sit on the market and become stale.  ...

CBC - The Hour - Real Estate Hot Spots

Don R Campbell - Real Estate Investment Network (Part 1 and Part 2).  

Home Renovation Tax Credit

What is HRTC?  It's the Home Renovation Tax Credit that was proposed in the January 27th Federal Budget, that will provide for a 15% income tax credit on eligible home renovation expenditures, and is family based.  Good between January 27th 2009 and February 1st 2010, it can be claimed for the 2009 taxation year on expenditures greater than $1,000, but no more than $10,000 and can provide ...

Risky Mortgages

Interesting news filtering in this morning, that CMHC had been warned about the burden it was placing on borrowers of home loans with minimal downpayment and long term amortization, and it's potential effect on the current economic crunch.  In February 2006, U.S. based insurance companies were allowed to insure mortgages in Canada, and this competition for market share saw the introduction of ...