TORONTO REAL ESTATE MARKET AND TORONTO MORTGAGE UPDATE

Toronto real estate market is changing all the time. Particularly now because of the new mortgage and CMHC changes.

Here is a summary. Currently maximum amortization is 35 years. It will be 30 years. This will not have a large impact on qualifying for a mortgage.

Home Equity Loan (line of credit secured by a mortgage) maximum 80% of the purchase price. 

Now Toronto home owner can refinance up to 90%. But after March 18 2011 you can refinance up to 85%.

5% down payment still available for purchases.

The government will withdraw its insurance backing on lines of credit secured on homes, such as home equity lines of credit.

The first change is likely to have the largest impact. Buyers who purchase Toronto real estate with less than 20 per cent of the value of the home are required to purchase government-backed mortgage insurance through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Under the new rules, mortgages amortized over longer than 30 years will no longer qualify for that insurance, making it effectively impossible to get a highly leveraged mortgage of more than 30 years in Canada.

The deadline is around 18th of March.

You have to be approved prior to this date to get better conditions.

So if you want to buy Toronto real estate, - buy now!

Mortgage agent Alex Malkhassiants is offering best mortgage rates and advice. 

Alexandre Malkhassiants, Sales Representative & Mortgage Specialist,

Right At Home Realty Inc.,  Real Estate Brokerage

Office: (416) 391-3232

Cell: (416) 723-9383

E-mail: amalkhass@rogers.com

Toronto real estate

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Lowest Canada mortgage rates

Toronto real estate. CANADA'S CONSTRUCTION STARTS

Total construction starts in Canada through July of this year were up 73 per cent in square footage and up 70 per cent in dollar volume versus the first seven months of last year, according to CanaData figures.

The residential component was up 87 per cent in square footage and up 84 per cent in dollars.

Non-residential building was up 48 per cent in square feet and up 21 per cent in dollars, while engineering was up 16 per cent in dollars.

The residential strength corresponded with starts as reported by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.

The single-family-home market is expected to weaken considerably in the second half of this year, due to harmonized sales tax introductions in Ontario and B.C., as well as interest rate increases and poorer resale markets.

“What is driving the multiple-unit market remains a mystery,” says CanaData chief economist Alex Carrick in his latest report.

“New major condo projects continue to be initiated, but the inventory of unsold units is more than double what it should be, according to historical averages. A serious correction seems all but inevitable.”

In non-residential building work, commercial starts are about even with last year.

Industrial construction starts have all but disappeared (down 61 per cent in square feet and down 95 per cent in dollars). dcnonl.com

Toronto real estate: Variable mortgage rates can save you money

Fixed mortgage rates may help you feel secure in your budgeting, but the Bank of Montreal says the more volatile variable rate mortgages will save you money in the long run.

A new report from the bank shows that, over the past 30 years, variable-rate mortgages have been more cost-effective about 82 per cent of the time.

That may come as a surprise to some after studies have shown many Canadians prefer a fixed-rate mortgage.

A fixed rate locks the borrower into a set interest rate for a certain period of time.

That gives many borrowers peace of mind knowing how much money to set aside each month for their mortgage payment.

Variable rates change along with interest-rate moves.

BMO said the Bank of Canada's overnight lending rate is at its lowest possible point now, which could mean there are fewer benefits to a variable rate in the foreseeable future.

BMO highlighted two historical periods when fixed rates were considered beneficial -- in the late 1970s and late 1980s -- and both were just before interest rates started rising again.

The bank added that the current interest environment is similar to both of these periods.

"Short-term rates are at extreme lows, and pressure is likely to build for higher rates in the year ahead," said deputy chief economist Doug Porter in the report.

"The question of whether to lock in to a longer-term fixed mortgage rate or stay in a variable rate has become an increasingly complex and important issue."

Canada has been in a long-term declining rate environment since the early 1980s, the bank suggested.

As a result, the spread between five-year fixed mortgages and variable mortgages has been pushed wider in recent years and is now near an all-time high.

If you want to know more about mortgages call Alex Malkhassiants, mortgage agent with Centim Inc, at (416) 723-9383 (cell).