Posts Tagged ‘mortgage’

Real Estate Market Will Start to Rise

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

2008 will be known best known for it’s rough real estate property foreclosures and price drops. There has not been a real estate market crash. The 1980’s crash has been referred to many times in the same breath as the recent disaster.

Things are looking up for the market and by the end of ‘09 we should see properties start rising again. Property owners will love hearing this as some weren’t sure it would ever happen. Once the market hits rock bottom, it will start gaining steam and you will see pricing start to rise.

Knowing how the crash originally crashed is the only way you will be able to comprehend how there will ever be a rise again. Different components can easily be fingered as the market down fall. In 2000 the housing market starting a price rise that would last until 2006, in this time most communities would see their property price double.

As prices were rising at amazing rates, potential buyers acknowledged that they weren’t making enough money to purchase a home. There started to be a lot of houses on the market but no suitable buyers, this meant values had to come down in order for people to be interested in them.

Most people have seen all the news about how sub-prime mortgages played a big role in the crash of the market. Although this wasn’t a direct factor in the Kamloops real estate market, we were still affected, along with other cities in Canada.

Loans were being applied for by potential purchasers that knew they couldn’t handle the payments. Loans were still being approved for these buyers with little to no down payments and extended years on their mortgage terms.

Mortgage payments could not be met due to insufficient funds, so loan company’s pressed the home owners. People were beginning to lose there houses to foreclosure. The more foreclosures happen the more houses starting coming on the market. Prices would fall because there were not enough buyers for all of the houses. It was no longer a sellers market.

Faulty loans was a monster of a problem in America, but as we know, whatever happens usually affects us too. Their markets are now close to their ultimate low point. This is solid news for us because that means we will start seeing a rise.

The majority of large cities are already seeing a rise in real estate prices, meaning that a rise in the little communities shouldn’t be far behind. Also now that with the down trend in real estate pricing, you will see more people can afford to buy again. You will start to see how this will affect us in a positive way. It had to happen sooner or later.

http://www.real-estate-news-articles.com/real-estate-market-will-start-to-rise/

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC moishe alexander CEO

RIDING THE … REAL ESTATE ROLLER COASTER

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Heather Harding and her husband, film editor Graham Withers, have been on the real estate sidelines looking for a home for the past 18 months. The Toronto couple, renters, started their search when the market was at the top and every home they looked at was “just too expensive.”

But now that prices are finally falling and affordability is increasing, there is another major stumbling block in their search: Job security.

“There just seems to be so much uncertainty. Prices in the range we have been looking at haven’t changed all that much, either,” said Mr. Withers.

“We keep waiting for the big housing crash,” said Ms. Harding.

They look to the situation in the United States and see prices dropping by as much as a third in many markets, but that hasn’t happened here. The Canadian Real Estate Association said prices across the country in the first four months of 2009 were down 6.7% compared with a year ago.

That’s the real-estate rub: Sales have stalled as vendors refuse to lower prices while buyers sit on the sidelines waiting for a deal after more than a decade of rising prices.

To be sure, the deals have finally begun to materialize, although not from plummeting prices. Rather, record-low interest rates, whether consumers are borrowing long-term or short, are a key factor in the new real-estate affordability.

Consider a $300,000 mortgage. At the 3.75% rate some mortgage brokers claim they can get for a five-year closed mortgage, the monthly payment is $1,537.67, based on a 25-year amortization. A couple of years ago, when the rate was closer to 5.75%, the same mortgage would cost 22% more, or $1,875.07 a month.

Cheap money has created a classic economic battle. In one corner stands the real estate industry, trying to lure buyers with rates so low it is now cheaper to own than to rent. In the other is the skittish consumer who is too focused on job concerns to care about interest rates.

For the first time this decade, the Royal Bank of Canada’s Affordability Index, which measures the percentage of household income needed to carry a home, is declining.

“We’ve seen affordability improve across the board, but especially in some centres where it had deteriorated over the past few years,” said Robert Hogue, senior economist with RBC.

Financial Post — Peter J Thompson

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

Dealing with Fraud in Real Estate Purchase in Alberta

Monday, June 15th, 2009

The Real Estate Council of Alberta has resolved to take the issue of fraud very seriously. It is a fact that of late many Alberta residents have been victimized by mortgage fraud upon being lured by promises of big returns. There have also been cases where some person has quite unknowingly allowed a fraudulent act to become a part of their action which has given shape to the plan of some fraud mastermind.

Mortgage fraud and the victims of fraud in real estate purchase

Mortgage fraud is defined as the material misstatement, misrepresentation or omission that is relied upon by an underwriter or lender for funding, purchasing or insuring a mortgage loan. The misstatement, misrepresentation or omission refers to the lies as also the white lies. In case a lender makes an advancement of mortgage money while telling any small lie regarding the borrower’s income, property value, intended use of property etc. then a mortgage fraud is said to have occurred.

Common victims of fraud are those who have purchased real estate whose values have been over inflated by a series of fraudulent transactions. In this way several consumers have had incurred huge financial losses and their credit ratings have been damaged.

Dealing with real estate related fraud in Alberta

This is a crime and you need be informed and armed beforehand to effectively combat the damaging influence of mortgage fraud. You need to beware when approached for opting for any scheme set to help make quick and easy money in real estate. Caution needs to be observed when your name is being taken down for credit purposes or when you are being asked to create or alter certain documents in a real estate or mortgage transaction. If you are suspecting that you can get involved in a fraudulent transaction then you ought to immediately report such suspicions to the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) for them to take suitable action.

In an effort to reduce mortgage fraud relating to the real estate market of Alberta, Canada the RECA has taken up several initiatives-

- Efforts have been made to bring about a change in the industry by introducing mandatory mortgage fraud awareness course, improved investigative resources and processes, stronger sanctions against licensees involved in mortgage fraud and development of ongoing education processes incorporating mortgage fraud identification knowledge.

- There have been collaboration endeavors with other stakeholders and enactment of legislative changes and information sharing efforts extended.

- There has been made efforts to increase public awareness.
These will hopefully work towards curbing mortgage frauds to a desirable extent and make the investment in real estate in Alberta less risky.
Jason Uvios writes about on Dealing with Fraud in Real Estate Purchase in Alberta to visit :-

http://www.socialjury.com/632/dealing-with-fraud-in-real-estate-purchase-in-alberta-2/

Brought by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO