Although the Province has just announced the 15% Non-Resident Speculation tax, there are already more questions than answers. Here is what you need to know. The tax is for non-residents of Canada buying 1-6 residential units in the Golden Horseshoe area of Ontario. This tax is in addition to any Land Transfer Tax payable. It…
OTTAWA, May 3, 2017 – Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,795 residential properties in April through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 1,711 in April 2016, an increase of 4.9 per cent. The five-year average for April sales is 1,613. “The April resale market continued its upward trend in units sold,…
A real estate transaction can be an exciting thing to experience, but it can also be nerve-wracking and stressful. Your experience will largely depend on the circumstances surrounding your transaction and, perhaps more importantly, the agent you’re working with. A great agent will not only get you over the finish line to the best of…
Effective March 17, 2017, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Genworth Canada are increasing premiums for mortgage loan insurance. The higher premiums will impact homeowners with an insured mortgage with a loan to value greater than 65%. What you need to know – keeping in mind that loans under 80% loan to value…
For those looking for a deal, distressed and foreclosed properties (called “power of sale” in Ontario) can offer a great opportunity. Lenders are looking to unload the property and will often offer a discount to do so quickly. But the process of buying a foreclosed home can differ a little from traditional home sales. Here are some things…
The Bank of Canada announced today that it is holding the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5% with an optimistic outlook, noting that “federal and provincial measures are still expected to support growth in 2017” and predicting “a return to full capacity around mid-2018” as earlier projected in October. The Bank factored in Trump’s tax…
TORONTO — Ontario is doubling the rebate on the land transfer tax for first-time homebuyers to $4,000 in an effort to help them enter the housing market, but it is raising the same tax on homes that sell for over $2 million. Finance Minister Charles Sousa said first-time buyers won’t pay any land transfer tax…
The Federal Government has announced yet another important mortgage rule change in efforts to cool the housing market by implementing what they call a “stress test”. In other words qualifying for a mortgage just got a whole lot more difficult. Effective October 17th all insured mortgages are required to QUALIFY for their mortgage using the…
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,491 residential properties in July through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 1,430 in July 2015, an increase of 4.3 per cent. The five-year average for July sales is 1,413. “Sales continue to outpace 2015 numbers both in monthly and year-to-date comparisons,” says Shane Silva,…