Posts Tagged housing prices
Mortgage Bits: House Upkeep; What does it really cost to own a home?
Posted by Top Home Loans in Mortgage Advice, Property Management on December 13th, 2009
when purchasing a property, most buyer’s number one question is: how much are the mortgage payments? Buyer’s usually think that if they can afford the mortgage payments, then they must be able to afford the property.
Unfortunately, this is the furthest thing from the truth. Upkeep, especially on condos, can be as expensive, if not more expensive, than the property itself. For example, let’s take a look at the average property in Toronto.
In Toronto, the average property value is approximately $450,000. This property would produce the following upkeep fees if it is a free hold unit.
? Property taxes: 350/month
? Heating: 75/month
? Electricity: 100/month
? Cable and Internet: 120/month
? Phone Service: 60/month
? Repairs and Upgrades: 200/month
Total upkeep per month: $905
If you look at a condo, then you would also need to factor in condo fees and parking rental fees. These fees alone can be as much as an additional $1000 per month.
Keep in mind that as your property increases in value, so does your upkeep. All the upkeep items are aligned with values, so you should expect to pay more as your value goes up.
Unfortunately, just because you have the money to buy a property doesn’t mean that you should if you can’t afford the upkeep. Make sure that you calculate the upkeep as well as the mortgage payments before you decide to purchase a property.
Welcome back!
Mortgage Bits: Home Ownership is Less Affordable then before the Recession
Posted by Top Home Loans in Economy, Mortgage Advice, Mortgage News on November 4th, 2009
The good news is that the recession ended several months ago. The bad news is that unemployment numbers are at record highs, housing prices have continued to rise in many places in Canada, and emplyment income is depreciating.
Condsiderly, all the negatives in the market, prices continue to be bid up in some markets. In the micro leave, this will be good in the short run, but it will have negative impacts in the long run.
Before the US collapse, the average mortgage was 125% the average annual household income before the housing collapse. In Canada, the percentage of household income is aproximately 137%.
Not to mention, we have shorter mortgage terms, commonly used variable rate mortgages, and high exposure to volatility. All these elements seem to be working against Canadians.
These facts can be argued for or against and there is no clear cut law on new scenarios. What do you think? How will the market play out over the next few years?
Canadian Housing Market Outlook
Posted by Top Home Loans in Mortgage News on October 7th, 2008
In order to understand your mortgage investment, it is a good idea to focus on the statistics and the mortgage futures. It is good to review the quarterly mortgage reports and see what they have to say to make sure that your mortgage investment is a strong investment. This will, also, allow you to be aware of the potential downsides of owning a house. The following article is some required details that anyone in the mortgage market should know. This is some detailed outlooks from the third quarter of 2008.
Housing Overview
2009 will continue to be a strong year for the housing market in Canada. Interest rates will remain low, while employment levels and income levels will remain high and progressive; however, high mortgage costs and mortgage demand will reduce the demand for housing in the rest of 2008 and 2009. Housing starts will trend lower throughout the rest of 2008 and 2009.
Higher mortgage carrying costs will be a leading cause of housing starts decreasing; however, MLS sales will remain strong throughout 2008 and 2009.
Key statistics include the following:
- Housing starts in 2008: 215,475
- Housing starts in 2009: 194,100
- MLS sales in 2008: 458,300
- MLS sales in 2009: 446,600
Housing Trends
Most of the housing demands through the last ten years have been met. Demand for the housing market has been decreasing over the last year due to large supply with decreased demand. Even though the fundamentals of the economy are strong, the housing market will still be pushed lower. The costs of carrying a mortgage will increase with higher utility fees and other associated fees. The hardest hit area of the housing market will be single detached home constructions. These will decline by 17.7%.
In higher density population locations, the housing decline will not be felt as closely as in lessly dense population regions. In these dense urban regions, they may even see an increase in the amount of housing starts over 2008 and 2009.
MLS and Housing Prices
Despite a reduction in house listings on MLS, home prices in general will continue to rise more gently than previously. Over the course of 2008, you can expect to see a nationalized house price increase of 3.2% and in 2009 a house price increase of 2.9%.
Provincial Statistics
The most drastc housing start decreases in Canada will be in Alberta. House starts will drop from 48,336 in 2006 to 29,000 in 2009; however, the average house prices will increase from 356,235 in 2007 to 370,000 in 2009. The province that will maintain the highest house prices is Vancouver. This province is predcted to have an average house value of $488,000 in 2009.
This information is provided from CMHC at there statistics data center.
http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/hoficlincl/homain/foan/index.cfm
This information is clearly incorrect. It will be interesting to see what the data CMHC comes up with for Q4’s report.