Young families pull up stake for a better life - These are the stories behind the numbers that we hear all the time. What does cost of living mean to real people? Or higher wages and housing affordability? Read real people stories here.
Western Metros likely to lead in 2012 and 2013 - "In light of the fact that unemployment rates in Regina (4.1%), Edmonton (5.4%), Saskatoon (5.4%), and Calgary (5.7%) have consistently averaged well below the national average (7.3%) over the past six months, it is not all that surprising that the Conference Board in Canada expects that economic growth in the largest metro areas in Alberta and Saskatchewan will continue to outpace activity in the rest of the country over the next 12 to 18 months.
It’s worth noting that in its latest (12/2011) Provincial Outlook, the Royal Bank of Canada also presented a relatively upbeat outlook for growth in those two provinces. This outlook is based primarily on the sustained rise in the global demand for commodities.
Topping the Conference Board’s list of the 27 metro areas is Saskatoon with a projected growth in 2012 of 4.0%, followed by Calgary (+3.6%), Edmonton (+3.4%) and Regina (+2.9%)."
Like the previous article higher employment rates lures people who want more than a condo and huge mortgage payments for their families. Read More Here
Back in Canada In need of home - "When we have a returning Canadian in a professional field who expects to be employed soon and has a minimum 20% down payment, because the mortgage does not need to be insured, the lender is able to exercise their own judgement,"
"If they have good credit history, 20% to 25% down - so more liquidity - the risk for the lender is much smaller than for a high-ratio mortgage. They may request you deposit six months' mortgage payments in an account and they will register a small lien within the bank. Those [funds] are a back-up security for the lender." Ayaz Bhanji, a mortgage broker with Mortgage Intelligence in Toronto
Our experience was 35% down for every property except for the ones where we could assume the mortgage. After about 25+ properties we also got atrocious mortgage rates, think 13.5%, about 7% higher than the norm.
