CBC says Vancouver home prices may pop another 9% in 2008–to which we say: how high is the sky, and will it be the limit??- CAAMP says federal and provincial governments are hurting housing affordability by not indexing these three programs:
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- The GST new homes rebate
- RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan
- Land transfer tax rebates
These plans were all designed to make home ownership attainable. Yet, they all use tax break thresholds from the 1990’s.
- Product Tip: FirstLine’s popular Matrix mortgage now offers a 40-year amortization. It can also now be used with rental properties (assuming you can prove your income).
- The U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association estimates that 1.35 million homes entered foreclosure in 2007. A record 1.44 million are expected to do so in 2008.
- Street Capital is expanding to BC and Alberta. The upstart lender says it’s “had an exceptional response from brokers in the Ontario market” so far.
- Pressures “have eased” in Canada’s money market according to the Bank of Canada.
“I thought, you know, buying a million-dollar property would be like a big mansion somewhere with a lake, but it’s a townhouse downtown.”
I love that quote. It’s funny, because if he had just purchased a home somewhere reasonable, it WOULD be a big mansion on a lake.
That is good news about the Matrix. It still suprises me that Firstline has not offered a variable or one year option however. It would make the product so much more appealing to the non-fixed crowd.