Ajax Pickering Real Estate Blog

What many prospective borrowers don’t realize is that the pricing of mortgages and other loans is based in part on their credit-worthiness.  Consumers need to be aware of how their credit is evaluated by lenders, and how they can work to avoid so-called “bruised credit” – people with a lower credit score can find themselves paying a higher interest rate, or even denied access to certain types of loans.

A credit report is a detailed history of how consistently you meet your financial obligations, and provides a picture of your financial health based on your past behaviour.  A credit score is a three-digit number, usually between 300 and 900, representing your overall credit-worthiness, based on personal information from your credit report and other sources.

Both your credit report and score are important.  When deciding whether or not to grant a mortgage loan, lenders refer to an applicant’s credit report and score, along with a range of other factors such as income, employment history, and size of down payment.

The higher your score the more likely you are to be approved for a mortgage and receive favourable rates because the lender considers you to be a better credit risk.  Several factors are used by the two credit agencies in Canada (Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada) to calculate credit scores:

* Debt payment history.
* Amounts owed compared to your current credit limits with lenders.
* How often you seek new credit.
* Length of time you have had credit accounts.
* Type of credit, such as car loans, lines of credit, credit cards.

About Invis
Invis is Canada’s largest mortgage brokerage firm with a national team of over 750 mortgage consultants. Invis Mortgage Consultants provide unbiased financial analysis, mortgage sourcing and mortgage advice for both first time homebuyers and repeat buyers.  Invis arranged more than $6 billion in mortgages in 2006.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

By Lori McLeod - Globe and Mail

After three successive months of declines, sales of existing homes in Canada unexpectedly reversed course in October, gaining 1.3% from the previous month.

The gain is most likely an aberration rather than a sustainable trend, however, and real estate sales are expected to decline gradually for the rest of the year and in 2008, said Gregory Klump, chief economist at the Canadian Real Estate Association.

“The rebound was particularly surprising because it was spread right across the country in a number of major real estate markets,” Mr. Klump said. “However, we are still expecting that sales will gradually erode, primarily due to a decrease in affordability.”

Sales of resale homes rose to 28,966 units in October, a 7.6% increase from the same month last year, according to statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Activity rose in Toronto, Edmonton, Hamilton-Burlington, Montreal, Quebec City and Winnipeg. Stronger sales in these markets offset declines in Calgary, Vancouver, Saskatoon and Sudbury - cities that have experienced huge real estate price increases in the past year.

The average price of a resale home in Canada rose 10.6% to $333,544 in October from last year, the sixth consecutive month in which the increase has exceeded 10%.

In Toronto, Regina, Saskatoon and Montreal, average real estate prices reached their highest levels on record.

Sales activity in most major centres has been strong at the high end of the real estate market, probably because there’s a dwindling supply of lower-priced homes left in many cities, Mr. Klump said.

Listings of residential properties on the Multiple Listing Service decreased slightly in October from September, but they still reached their fifth-highest monthly level on record.

“Negotiations still favour the seller in nearly all major markets,” Mr. Klump said.

Sales levels are expected to edge down as higher real estate prices and rising mortgage rates continue to squeeze buyers out of the market. The posted rate on a five-year mortgage at the big banks is currently sitting at 7.44% - 1.5 percentage points higher than where it was in April.

While real estate sales activity is expected to slow next year, it should still be a strong year, Mr. Klump said.

“This will be a gradual slowdown but it doesn’t portend disaster. [Next year] is still expected to be one of the best years on record, second only to 2007,” he said.

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960

Grant Surridge, Financial Post

Sales of existing homes in Canada’s major cities reversed two months of declines in October, clocking in with the largest ever figure for that month, according to a national real estate agents‘ association.

Seasonally adjusted national sales rebounded to 28,966 units in October, climbing 1.3% from the level in September, said the Canadian Real Estate Association on Thursday.

“The thing that surprised me most was the fact the rebound occurred in markets across the country,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist at the Canadian Real Estate Association.

“It just shows the strength of resale housing markets across Canada.”

The average resale price rose 10.6% year-over-year to $333,544, the sixth consecutive month that number climbed over 10%. Average prices hit record levels in Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto and Montreal.

Mr. Klump contrasted the continued positive news emitting from the Canadian housing market with the doom and gloom from south of the border.

“We continue to see sellers’ markets, not buyers’ markets like in the States.”

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Contact the Jeffrey Team for more information - 416-388-1960