MARKET UPDATE

Home sales climb higher in April

Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 488 units in April, rising 14 per cent from year-ago levels.

Within the city of Barrie, sales activity was up by more than the overall trend for the region. The city of Barrie saw 310 residential sales in April, 29 per cent above levels from April 2011.

On a year-to-date basis, sales activity was running 16 per cent ahead of the first four months of 2011.

“Demand remained at above average levels in April,” said Walter Doret, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “It’s actually been one of the strongest starts to any year on record. That’s drawing down the overall supply of properties for sale, which is resulting in tighter market conditions and continued upward pressure on prices.”

The year-to-date average price for all homes sold via the Association’s MLS® System in April 2012 was $301,501, up seven per cent from levels at the same time last year.

The year-to-date average price figure for homes sold just within the City of Barrie was $284,691. This was an eight per cent increase compared to the same period in 2011.

The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differentials between geographical areas.

The dollar value of all home sales in April 2012 was $150.4 million, up 22 per cent from year-ago levels.

New residential listings were up two per cent from a year earlier to 861 units in April 2012.

Overall supply levels have generally been trending downward since last summer. Active residential listings on the Association’s MLS® System numbered 1,701 units at the end of April 2012. This was down 10 per cent from the end of April 2011.

There were 3.9 months of inventory at the end of April 2012 on a seasonally adjusted basis, up slightly from 3.8 months at the end of March. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

Sales of all property types in the Barrie region numbered 497 units in April, up 13 per cent compared to April 2011. The total value of all properties sold in April 2012 was $154.2 million, up 23 per cent on a year-over-year basis .

The Barrie and District Association of REALTORS® Inc. covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie and part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview. The Association provides continuing education, Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), statistical information, and many other services to its members.

Changes to the Rules for Government Insured Mortgages

SinceOctober 2009, the Government of Canada has been systematically tightening mortgage financing regulations for all federally regulated lenders.  The changes have been made in order to ensure that Canadians are prepared for higher interest rates in the future by not taking on too much debt, which will improve the stability of Canada's housing market.

On January 17, 2011, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced additional changes to the rules for government insured mortgages. 

We want to be sure you understand the changes and how they might affect your clients' home financing options. Three new measures that have been announced are as follows:

New Guidelines – Effective March 18^th 2011

1) Lowering the maximum amount consumers can borrow     when refinancing their home

This change will lower the maximum mortgage amount for refinances to 85% of the appraised value of the property from the current 90%. This change will help to promote savings in homeownership and ensure that homeowners don’t become overextended by using all the equity they have built up in their home when refinancing.

2)  Reducing the maximum amortization period for new government insured (default insured) mortgages

The maximum amortization for all new default insured mortgages will be reduced to 30 years from the current 35 years. This change will help reduce total borrowing costs for consumers, helping them to build up equity more quickly.

As an example, a $300,000 mortgage with a 4.5% interest rate and an amortization of 35 years has a monthly payment of $1412.05 and total interest cost of $293,059.17 over the life of the mortgage. The same mortgage with a 30 year amortization has a monthly payment of $1512.65 but total interest cost reduces to $244,551.49. The difference of roughly $100 a month in monthly payment reduces the interest cost by almost $50,000 over the life of the mortgage.

New Guideline - Effective April 18th 2011

3) Withdrawing government insurance backing on lines of credit secured by homes

Home equity lines of credit generally offer a variable interest rate and often have no repayment terms associated with them, which exposes borrowers to an increase in interest costs should interest rates as expected. Due to an increase in the household debt associated with these loans, the federal government wants to limit the amount of equity for which these loans can be granted

Loans that have repayment terms associated with them will still be eligible for default insurance.

We're here to help your clients get the right advice

Getting pre approved for a mortgage is a great first step in the home buying process, but reviewing that pre approval as a result of these changes is very important. I am here to help to ensure your clients are still on track in achieving their goals of home ownership.