Leslie Penney
141 Torbay Road A1A 2H1 St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, NL, Canada

Happy New Year! How are you ringing in the new year?

Happy New Year! How are you ringing in the New Year?

Wishing a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Happy Tibbs Eve! How have your Tibbs Eve Traditions changed for this year?

Residential Market Commentary - Autumn chill does not cool hot market The Canadian home market remains robust as pent-up demand from the spring continued to unwind into the fall. The November numbers from the Canadian Real Estate Association show sales hit another new monthly record, up 32.1% compared to a year ago. Month-over-month, sales slipped a modest 1.6% from October.... The national average price for a home has now topped $603,000, a 13.8% increase from last November. Of course, the two busiest and most expensive markets in the country Toronto and Vancouver continue to skew that figure. When they are taken out of the calculation the national average price drops to about $481,000. A key component in the Toronto and Vancouver markets is showing a marked slowdown. Downtown condos have seen a sharp decrease in price acceleration. While single, detached homes and other ground-oriented housing experienced a 14.1% increase, condos rose 4.9%. CREA expects to see Canada’s national average home price rise by another 9% in 2021, to more than $620,000. The realtors say tight supply is driving prices. New listings were down by 1.6% in November holding the sales-to-new listings ratio at 74.8%. That is one of the highest levels ever recorded for the metric. The long-term average sales-to-new listings ratio is 54.2%. There were just 2.4 months of inventory on a national basis at the end of November 2020 the lowest reading on record for this measure. (Source: First National)

Residential Mortgage Commentary - Household debt creep resumes In a year where pretty much all things economic and financial have been stood on their heads, here is another anomaly brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Household debt is on the rise again and a lot of it is mortgages. The latest tally by Statistics Canada shows that the Canadian Household Debt-to-Income ratio crept back up to 170.7% in the third quarter. That is, on average, Canadian households owe $1.71 f...or every dollar of disposable (after tax) income. That is a significant bump from $1.63 in the second quarter, but significantly less than the $1.81 at the start of the year. The drop in Q2 is largely attributed to government support payments, mortgage deferrals and other debt relief that saw Canadians spending much less, while still collecting an income. The accumulation of cash is reflected in a national savings rate that bolted to 27.5% in the quarter. It slipped back to 14.6% in Q3, but is still well above the historical average. By one accounting Canadian households have socked away $90 billion in savings since the start of the pandemic. However, growing job numbers, the winding down of federal supports and the end of deferrals have households spending again, and they have not lost their taste of debt. Total borrowing in the second quarter came in at $7.2 billion. In the third quarter it shot up to $34.8 billion, including a record $27.8 billion in mortgages. Household net worth rose 3% in the third quarter driven by gains in residential real estate and the stock markets. At the same time though, disposable income slipped 3.1%. (Source: First National)

Residential Market Commentary - Expectations remain positive It appears Canadians’ enthusiasm and optimism about their homes and the housing market remain very resilient. Part three of the Rapidly Evolving Expectations in the Housing Market report, being produced by Mortgage Professionals Canada, suggests 90% of homeowners are happy with their decision to buy, while just 2% regret their purchase decision.... Non-homeowners have seen a significant increase in optimism. The number who expect to buy in the near future has nearly tripled to 20%, from 7% at the beginning of the year. It should be noted that the survey samples used for the report are narrow, focusing on just two groups: mortgage holders, and non-homeowners who are looking to buy within the next three years. Current conventional wisdom says purchases are being driven by low interest rates and the desire for larger and more functional living spaces. These upbeat results come despite the resurgence of COVID-19 infections that started late last month. The survey period for the report was September 25 through October 8. (On Oct. 9 Ontario imposed another partial shutdown of its economy due to the rising number of new infections.) The results appear to mirror generally positive feelings about employment and income. Even people who have seen their income diminish during the pandemic are upbeat. Forty percent of respondents in this group believe they will see improvement in the coming months. Among those who did not take hit to their income, 29% are optimistic about improvements. The majority, 58%, believe their situation will remain stable. The fourth, and final, report is due in December. (Source: First National)

Be safe and watch out for the kiddies!

The Bank of Canada just announced that they are keeping interest rates the same, so therefore no changes to Prime Rate or any variable rate mortgage or loans. They figure that our economy won't fully recover from the impacts of COVID-19 until 2022, with that being a bit of a moving target, depending on how the pandemic unfolds. Thankfully, the rebound over the summer has been stronger than expected, which is a positive note amidst everything these days.... If you'd like to chat about mortgages or rates, don't hesitate to reach out! https://bit.ly/31R6isr

Check out the quick video below that I done last week with Dream Kitchens and Renovations regarding funds for improvements and renovations on your home. - Purchase Plus Improvements - Home Equity... Contact me with any questions on these two programs and be sure to reach out to Dream Kitchens and Renovations for any info on their range of products and services!

Caution and patience as we look ahead. The latest employment numbers coupled with the September reports from the Toronto and Vancouver real estate boards have triggered a lot of optimism about Canada’s economic recovery and the state of the housing market. Statistics Canada reports the economy added 378,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate dropped to 9%. Toronto realtors posted a record breaking 11,083 sales last month, up 42% from a year earlier. The benchmark ...price rose 14%, y-o-y. Vancouver had its best September ever: 3,643 sales, up more than 56% y-o-y. The benchmark price rose nearly 6%. All of these numbers continue to defy expectations and so caution and patience need to be the guiding principles as we try to figure out what will happen next. The employment numbers which are a key indicator of economic health surely got a boost with the reopening of schools. Parents who had been staying home to look after their kids became available for work again. But many are not back to full employment. The number of mothers working less than half their usual hours was 70% higher last month than before the shutdowns. For working-fathers the number is 23% higher. Overall, employment is still 25% lower than it was before the pandemic. And many of those jobs will not be coming back. Further job growth remains in jeopardy as the two, biggest jurisdictions in the country, Ontario and Quebec, re-introduce closures and restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, signals from the housing sector are mixed. Realtors continue to forecast rising sales and prices. But the market is imbalanced. Most of the gains are coming in ground-oriented units singles, semis and townhouses. Condos are seeing significantly smaller increases. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation continues to forecast that price declines, in the 10% area, will start showing up sometime around the middle of next year. Moody’s Analytics predicts a national peak-to-trough price decline of 7%. Both reports cite employment shortfalls, reduced immigration and increasing loan delinquencies. (Source: First National)

Now that you've spent all your money on Amazon Prime sales, take advantage of these low mortgage rates!