Tag Archives: Mortgage

Outlook Shaky As Consumer Debt Expected to Rise

While the Canadian economy appears to be weathering the economic storm with surprising ease, Canadian consumers are beginning to show signs of distress. Just last week, Statistics Canada announced a net worth drop of $4,600 per household in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Canadians continue to borrow and buy on credit. Household debt per capita is up by $600 from the second quarter for a total of nearly $46,100 or 152.98%.

To put this into perspective, the American banks encountered trouble when the ratio of debt to disposable income hit 160%. Canadians are flirting with disaster if indebtedness levels continue to rise. Continue reading →

CAAMP Report Finds Canadian Consumers Believe They Have Too Much Debt

The seventh annual State of the Residential Mortgage MarketĀ report, conducted by CAAMP (the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals) has found that consumers are worried about debt. The report, which included survey data from 2,000 Canadians (half of which were homeowners), asked participants to what extent they agree with various statements based on a 10-point scale: a response of 10 indicated complete agreement. The statement, “as a whole, Canadians have too much debt,” received the the highest degree of agreement, scoring an average rating of 7.98 out of 10.

While debt remains a major cause of concern, there is a widespread opinion that Canadian real estate is a good long term investment. Consumers still feel that a mortgage is a “good debt” and very few regret taking on the size of mortgage that they did. However, there is still a very big perception that Canadian homeowners are largely unprepared for the financial obligations of purchasing a home. Continue reading →

Your Down Payment Affects… Everything

It doesn’t matter how you approach the task of house hunting, eventually, you’ll end up taking a good, long look at your savings. Why? Because determining how much money you have available for a down payment on your home will affect just about every aspect of the home buying decision. From the housing type, to the mortgage rate, even how you word your purchase offer, all of these decisions come down to the amount of money in your bank account. Continue reading →

Is a Home Equity Line of Credit the Right Option for Me?

We’ve all been faced with a major expense at some point in our life. Perhaps the furnace has failed in the middle of December, or your car has unexpectedly quit in the middle of a busy work week. You need a large sum of money fast, but your options are slim. Maybe your income stream varies from month to month, or your bank account just isn’t big enough. In a situation like this, you need to act fast, but you don’t want to make a decision that could hurt your credit score for years to come. So, what’s a frantic homeowner to do? How about tapping into your unused home equity to quickly and easily cover your costs? Continue reading →

How to Buy a Foreclosed Home

It’s no secret that foreclosures have rocked the American real estate market over the past five years, but what about the Canadian real estate scene? While our major housing markets have faired better than that of our neighbour, there are still many foreclosed properties available across the country. First time home buyers and investors alike are jumping at the chance to take advantage of this surge of inventory thanks to affordable investment opportunities. But you can’t reap the rewards until your experience the risks. If you’re considering bidding on a foreclosed home it is important that you first understand the pros and cons of purchasing a property that’s in financial limbo. Continue reading →