Verico Maximum Mortgages
107, 2915 21 Street NE T2E 7T1 Calgary, AB, Canada

The Bank of Canada reduced the prime interest rate by .50bps today. The prime rate is now 3.45% Good news for variable rate mortgage holders! Fixed mortgage rates have been on a steady decline since January. It is expected this will continue into the busy spring real estate market. ... Banks and other lenders tend to fight for market share at this time of year. Their primary way of doing this is with rate drops. The recent coronavirus news has hurt the world economy and this is expected to continue into the next quarter. Exports are down as ports are working with smaller staff as they worry about the spread of the virus. Our exports in Canada have been affected by the virus and by illegal blockades of our rail lines. At least the rail line blockades are all gone, or most of them. We can only hope that the virus will stop spreading around the world and we can get back to our regular bucket of economic issues.

Some good news for folks going through a break-up. If you still want to buy a home you can access some of your retirement savings to do so. This loophole will allow you to qualify under similar rules for First Time Home Buyers. You will no incur the tax penalty to access these funds.

Let's chat about the new First Time Home Buyers Program. A program designed to begin Sept 2nd 2019. The program will lend first time home buyers up to 5% on a used home purchase or up to 10% for a new construction purchase. You do not have to make any monthly payments on the loan. The government will get its money back when you sell the house. ... They will share in any equity gain you make from the day of purchase until you sell the house. In today's market place, that is not a bad investment. Homes have not been increasing in value over the last few years by very much. My fear, that as we start to turn around in western Canada and in some markets like Toronto and Vancouver this 5% or 10% could amount to a substantial cost for homeowners when they go to sell their home. In the early 2000's we saw Calgary home prices almost double over a 5 year period. That would mean the government makes some really good cash off the money they let you use. You now must look at just how much do I really need this program? Yes, it will save you a little on the insurance premium that you would pay. You are already being charged an insurance premium for the original 5% you have to make the purchase. Do you really need to have the government as a partner in your new home? Everyone needs to really look at this before jumping into bed with the government as a partner. If you want to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact us at 401-605-5711 or [email protected]

The Bank of Canada leaves the prime rate alone once again. The BOC has left the prime rate alone for the next 8 weeks. They state that inflation is lower than expected and this has allowed them to ease off on increasing the prime rate. This was not unexpected as our economy has had nothing but bad news since last fall. ... * Transmountain Pipeline delays * GM shutting down Ontario manufacturing plant * Line 3 pipeline delayed another year * XL Keystone facing further delays * Trade wars with China and our farmers not having a reliable market to sell too. I could likely go on with this list but you get the point. Things are not great here in Canada. It does not help that our government refuses to complete even one pipeline to the coast allowing us to expand our markets. Funny how we bend over backward to accommodate small businesses that want to export or import other items. While our largest and richest resource sits in the ground waiting to be shipped to the USA, our one and only customer for our oil. There is little threat of another prime rate increase for 2019. Unless we can get some positive news moving forward our economic picture is bleak for the next two quarters. Fixed rates have been coming down and I expect this will continue as we move towards the spring market. Now really is a good time to be looking at buying a new house. Prices are down and interest rates are where they were last fall. Feel free to call and discuss further if you like. You can reach me at 403-605-5711 or [email protected]

For those folks that own property in BC there is an appeal process for the latest government tax grab. You will have the right to appeal the decision. You can expect a letter in the next month with regard to how to appeal. BC prepares for speculation, vacancy tax declarations... HomeMarket Update Homeowners in the area subject to the British Columbia speculation and vacancy tax (SVT) will soon be receiving details on how to make their declaration. The provincial government says that letters will be mailed between January 18th and February 28th with clear instructions of how to file a declaration and claim any exemption. The tax is part of BC’s 30-point plan to restore housing affordability in the province and works to target foreign and domestic speculators who own homes in B.C. but do not pay tax in the province; turn empty homes into housing for people; and raise revenue that will go to supporting affordable housing. The government says that those filing an exemption should only need around 10-20 minutes to complete the declaration, although where the home has multiple owners (even a spouse) each must complete the declaration. The deadline to declare is March 31, 2019. Residential property owners who do not complete their declaration before April 1, 2019, will receive a tax notice of assessment. Owners whose property is not exempt from the tax have until July 2, 2019, to pay their assessed tax. Areas subject to the SVT include: Municipalities within the Capital Regional District. This excludes Salt Spring Island, Juan de Fuca Electoral Area and the Southern Gulf Islands Municipalities within the Metro Vancouver Regional District, excluding Bowen Island, the Village of Lions Bay and Electoral Area A, but including the University of British Columbia and the University Endowment Lands The City of Abbotsford The District of Mission The City of Chilliwack The City of Kelowna The City of West Kelowna The City of Nanaimo The District of Lantzville