A new study by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals details the state of home ownership, mortgage debt and more.
Close to four in 10 Canadians carrying a home mortgage took extra steps to pay down what they owe this year, according to new research released yesterday by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP). “Our study shows that 38% of Canadians made some additional payments on their mortgages,” said Jim Murphy, president and chief executive officer of CAAMP in an interview with me yesterday. “They increased their payment, increased their frequency or made a lump-sum payment.”
-16% reported increasing the amount they paid (over and above their minimum monthly payment),
-17% made an additional lump-sum payment.
-8% increased the frequency of their payments.
-38% said they did one or more of these.
A few other interesting highlights in this study show that:
- Canadians went fixed rate this year. No less than 82% of new mortgages signed between January and October 2013 (when the study was conducted) were fixed rate. Variable and adjustable rate mortgages were issued to 9%.
- We’re taking equity out of our homes. More than one million homeowners took some amount of equity out of their home this year. Canadians added roughly $36 billion to their mortgages and $23 billion to their HELOCs.
- On average, Canadians own about two-thirds of their homes. The average equity position is 66%, according to a CAAMP estimate.
The average fixed rate issued this year was 3.65% (3.18% for 2013 purchases; 3.17% for 2013 renewals).
The average variable or adjustable rate was 3.05% (2.85% for purchases; 3.21% for renewals).
And the average combination rate was 3.7% (4.19% for purchases; 3.54% for renewals).
About 1.5 million Canadians renewed their mortgage this year.
Kind Regards,
Tibor Bogdan
What is a pre-sale? Example scenario: When the developer intends to build an apartment building and applies for financing, the bank will grant financing under certain conditions. One of them will likely be a certain percentage of pre-sales the developer will need to secure before receiving the funds.
It is common practice for a developer to approach several real estate investors and offer them an opportunity to purchase units of the non-existent building at a discounted price, and on good terms. Once the number of pre-sales is accomplished, the developer goes ahead with the construction, which will likely take two years or longer to complete. During construction, their marketing team offers the remainder of the units for sale at market value to the public. If you are a RE investor, you know that it is preferable to be buying at the pre-sale prices, not market value prices. The question is, how do you get the invitation to buy a pre-sale? In the past many years, investors have made substantial income by buying at wholesale prices and selling at retail prices even before they needed to complete their purchase. I saw many of them lining up and sometimes even camping overnight in front of the sales center to get a chance to buy at lower prices, but not everyone was lucky enough. You needed to be well-connected to get an opportunity, and you had to act fast. Today is a bit of a different story. Several projects in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley offer really good prices and incentives to secure a unit now and complete the purchase two or three years later. The list of incentives varies from one project to the next. Besides attractive prices, you can get low deposit amounts (5-15%), low or no assignment fees, free updates, a mortgage rate buy-down program, extra parking and more. A month ago, I helped a few of my clients purchase a presale in Surrey that sold out in 2 days, and I know of another good developer that will be offering a few units for sale as well. If you would like to know more about these opportunities, I would encourage you to call or email me, and I’ll be happy to send you details on those projects. Kind regards,
Tibor Bogdan
Century 21 Creekside Realty Ltd. 45428 Luckakuck Way #190, Chilliwack, BC V2R 3S9 cell: 604-855-2521 |
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