We have kept you informed on recent blog posts of the past Mortgage Rate hikes and although the hikes have been modest I beilieve we will see the roller coster on rates as we have in the past. I don't forsee any significant rate hikes in the near future and if that changes I will keep you informed. Below is an online Globe and Mail article commenting on the recent changes in interest rates. 

TAMSIN MCMAHON - REAL ESTATE REPORTER

The Globe and Mail

I have enjoyed working with Boomers relocating to Bobcageon, Prince Edward County, Kawarthas  and Muskoka. They were  excited about the opportunity to enjoy a new lifestyle living outside the GTA.

 I thought this was a great article in the Globe and Mail's series on baby boomer for those boomers  who were contemplating taking advantage of the current high values and moving outside the GTA.  The housing market outside the GTA and 905 areas in most cases Bungalows are more affordable as well as property taxes and utility costs leaving Boomers more disposible income to travel or enjoy local amenaties.  

Retirees scaling back their housing costs – but not their lifestyles 

Globe and Mail article below 

This is part of the Globe and Mail's week-long series on baby boomers and how their spending, investing, health and lifestyle decisions could affect Canada's economy in the next fifteen years. Is Canada ready for the boom?

Retirees scaling back their housing costs – but not their lifestyles

Phil and Charleen Goodwin plan to retire some time in the next five years, sell their bungalow in north Toronto and buy a cheaper home outside of the city.

The couple, both in their late 50s, work in the communications industry and don’t have the benefit of company pensions, so the real estate boom that has driven up prices of homes in Toronto has been a major boost to the Goodwins’ retirement plans.

“It makes a big difference,” Mr. Goodwin says. “If we had pensions, we would be in a different situation.”

But like many boomers who are looking to move as they head into retirement, downsizing for the Goodwins has meant scaling back on their housing costs, not their square footage.

Mr. Goodwin estimates the couple can find a similar-sized house in a smaller city in Southern Ontario for half of what they sell their house for in Toronto. Several of their neighbours have already done the same, in some cases buying even bigger homes in the suburbs. Mr. Goodwin is looking to own a home with a yard and enough parking space for the couple to buy a second car. “We’re not ready for a condo right now,” he says. “I love the outdoors too much and I’d like to stay outside.”

As boomers rewrite the notion of what housing choices look like in retirement, developers are scrambling to understand a generation that many expected would sell their suburban homes and move into urban high-rise condos and golf-course communities, or do as their parents did and eventually sell the family house in favour of a retirement home.

Read entire article 

Price increases in some Greater Toronto Area suburbs outpacing Toronto core

TORONTO, Oct. 14, 2015 /CNW/ - The Royal LePage House Price Survey1 released today showed double-digit increases in the year-over-year price of homes in 10 of the 13 regions surveyed in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In the third quarter of 2015, the aggregate2 price of a home in the GTA rose 11.3 per cent over the year prior to $612,261.

Greater Toronto Area Market Summaries

Reflective of the GTA as a whole, the third quarter of 2015 saw a seller's market in Toronto with a combination of increased demand from millennials desiring to live downtown and baby boomers looking to downsize but stay among the city's amenities and conveniences. In the city of Toronto, the aggregate price of a home across housing types surveyed climbed 11.2 per cent to $639,970.

As prices continue to increase in the central regions of the city, more homebuyers are looking outside the downtown core to more affordable homes in areas of the GTA such as Scarborough.

Markets in the Durham Region also saw significant price increases across housing types surveyed in the third quarter of 2015. The aggregate price of a home in Ajax climbed 14.5 per cent year-over-year to $524,710, while the aggregate home price in Pickering increased 12.6 per cent to $540,896. During the same period, Oshawa and Whitby saw notable home price increases of 9.7 per cent to an aggregate price of $364,366 and 9.6 per cent to $473,400, respectively.

see entire article  

#MLTTSAYNO  -   Say NO to New Municipal Land Transfer Taxes

LTT Could Spread!

•The provincial government has been reviewing the powers of Ontario municipalities and is seriously considering giving ALL municipalities the ability to charge a second land transfer tax, on top of the provincial land transfer tax. 

•Currently, only the City of Toronto has the authority to levy this tax, but officials in other municipalities have expressed an interest to do so if they are given the option.  

•NEW Municipal LTTs could affect the real estate market. If a new MLTT is implemented similar to the City of Toronto, the purchaser of an average home in Durham Region could face almost $10,000 in land transfer taxes!

•Polling by Ipsos Reid shows that over 82% of residents in the Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa area oppose this tax.

ACT NOW - Say NO to New Municipal Land Transfer Taxes

You can help NOW to prevent the spread of the Land Transfer Tax! Visit www.DontTaxMyDream.ca to quickly and easily send a message to your MPP telling them that you oppose new municipal land transfer taxes. It only takes one minute of your time, but makes a big difference in our efforts.

Thank-you!

Jim Stanton Broker 

Sutton Group - Heritage Realty Inc. Brokerage

Buying vs Renting?  Is first time home ownership on your wish list? 

If so assess how close you are to making that dream come true. 

• Are you familar with the real estate market in your preferred neighbourhood? 

Start parusing our First Time Home Buyer web link or Realtor.ca to check out what homes are selling for in your preferred area                                                                   

Do you know how much you can afford to spend on your 1st home? 

• It is best  to get pre-approved for a mortgage using a mortgage broker or lender rather than using online calculators because those calculators don't often factor in your debt and credit score.

***  2.59%  Five Year Fixed  Mortgage

still available!  

Deals must close by 

December 31st 2015 

Call Jim today! 

905-409-9967

***OAC some conditions do apply

Jim Stanton Broker FSCO licence #M08007896

ENTRUST FINANCIAL CORPORATION

licence # 10891

The majority of first-time homebuyers  these days are Millennials - Genworth has created a great website that provides some great information for all first time homebuyers to help them understand the process to owning their first home. 

Working with first time home buyers and helping them complete the dream to own their first home is  a very rewarding and brings back our experience of buying our own first home. In today's real estate market where inventory is low, the process is more stressful for first time home buyer finding that perfect home. It requires real team work between the buyer and their realtor. Here is a link to 5 tips for first time homebuyers. If you have any questions about buying your first home give us a call, we are here to help you make your dream of home ownership come true. 

#HomesinDurhamforFirstTimeHomeBuyers

Wynne plans to give all municipalities the right to double the amount of land transfer tax you'll pay on your next real estate deal.

Toronto Sun article 

BY CHRISTINA BLIZZARD, QUEEN'S PARK COLUMNIST

TORONTO - Home buyers beware.

You're about to pay thousands of dollars more for that dream home.

The province is set to give all municipalities the right to double the amount of land transfer tax you'll pay on your next real estate deal

Industry insiders say they've been told the government will amend the Municipal Act to allow all municipalities to set their own municipal land transfer tax (MLTT).

Right now, only the City of Toronto is allowed to levy its own MLTT. It doubles the tax paid by buyers in all residential real estate deals.

"This is an unfair, unsustainable and unpredictable tax," Patricia Verge, president of the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), told me Monday.

She said OREA is launching its own website -- donttaxmydream.ca  ..............Read More 

Comments regarding the proposed tax grab are available on October's Toronto Real Estate Market Watch video 

by CRE18 Nov 2015

by Ryan Smith

The Canadian property market continues to grow, driven largely by the booming markets in Vancouver and Toronto. Excluding those markets, in fact, gains and declines are relatively evenly split across the country.

The national average sale price rose 8.3% year over year in October, according to data from the Canadian Real Estate Association. Excluding Vancouver and Toronto, however, the national average was up just 2.5%.

The number of markets where sales posted a monthly increase and markets where it declined was evenly split, according to CREA. The national monthly increase, a 1.8% rise from September, was driven largely by gains in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland and the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding regions.

“The continuation of low interest rates is supporting home sales activity,” said CREA president Pauline Aunger. “Even so, the strength of sales activity varies by location and price segment across Canada.”

Detached homes are still going strong, according to CREA. Short supply and strong demand continues to drive sales in big markets in British Columbia and Ontario. Condominiums, meanwhile, remain relatively plentiful.

“The balance between supply and demand is generally tighter for single detached homes than it is for condo apartments and that’s unlikely to change any time soon,” said CREA chief economist Gregory Klump. “For that reason, price gains for single detached homes should continue to outstrip those for condo apartment units for some time.”

Actual sales rose year over year in half of all local markets, led by increases in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, the GTA and Montreal, CREA reported. Those gains were offset somewhat by a drop in the Calgary area, which has seen real estate founder following the oil slump.

We have seen tremendous increase in home values in Durham Region in the past 3 years and I am sure the construction of the 407 has had a big effect on creating those gains, which shows in our recent sales stats for Q 3 in 2015. I hope the municipalities within Durham Region and Clarington will not pass the policy of  charging a municiple land transfer tax on home sales in Durham Region if Wynne passes he proposed legislation. This will just add more cost for Buyers and  making owning a home more difficult. 

What are your thoughts? 

3rd Quarter Real Estate Report for Whitby's Pringle Creek area 

includes Pringle Creek neigbhourhood, Fallingbrook west of Anderson neighbourhood and the Willowbrook neighbourhood 

click here For Toronto Real Estate Boards October's Market Watch video 

Are the boom days coming to an end in Canadian Real Estate - Is that a good thing and how will that have an effect on Home sales in Whitby and Durham Region

In a recent article from MortgageBrokerNews.ca The Boom Days are over - is that a good thing? 

The article made note that: Better-than-expected job numbers both here and in the U.S. should mean a hike in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, which means the long love affair with low interest is coming to an end, and a positive sign that a potential housing crisis isn’t looming.  Read more here 

We have seen our  big banks are creeping rates higher:  variable rates have gone from prime minus  -.60 basis points  to minus .30 basis points and 5yr rates from 2.69 fixed to 2.79% fixed  

Company wins highest honours at Ontario Finest Meat Competition

OSHAWA -- At Halenda’s Fine Foods, sausage making is treated as an art. 

“There are ways to cut corners and I can speak for Halenda’s, we don’t take them,” said owner Richard Halenda. “I don’t buy spice on price, I buy where I’m guaranteed I’m getting the best.” 

That’s partly why he believes for the third consecutive time, Halenda’s took home the top prize in the Ontario Finest Meat Competition with the highest overall score. click here for more