Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Friday, January 14, 2022,
https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/rrsps-related-plans/what-home-buyers-plan/participate-home-buyers-plan.html#first-timehomebuyerThe Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) is a program that allows you to withdraw funds from your Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) to buy or build a qualifying home for yourself or for a related person with a disability. The HBP allows you to pay back the withdrawn funds within a 15-year period.
You can withdraw funds from more tha...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Friday, June 17, 2016,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2016/6/6/How-a-tsunami-of-inheritances-could-ease-Canadas-housing-market-pain.aspxGreg Bonnell | June 6, 2016
A record wave of inheritance will transfer billions in wealth over the next decade, taking some of the sting out of the real estate market for young Canadians, CIBC’s deputy chief economist said Monday.
In his report “The Looming Bequest Boom – What Should We Expect?”, Benjamin Tal argues more than $750 billion will be transferred to Canadians between the ...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Wednesday, June 1, 2016,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2016/5/31/Bank-of-Nova-Scotias-CEO-calls-on-Ottawa-to-raise-down-payment-rules-again.aspxJameson Berkow | May 31, 2016Brian Porter argues the federal government must intervene further if it hopes to slow the rapid rise of real estate prices in Canada’s two hottest housing markets.
The chief executive of Bank of Nova Scotia told BNN he is “a little concerned” about price activity in Vancouver and “maybe pockets” in Toronto, where the average price of a home has ...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Sunday, February 22, 2015,
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/mortgages/you-made-how-much-selling-your-house-you-sure-about-that/article22410703/?service=mobilePreet Banerjee | January 22, 2015Ever hear someone tell you they bought their house for peanuts and sold it for a small fortune? If it sounds too good to be true, sometimes it is. Many people conveniently forget to factor in real estate agent fees, mortgage interest, maintenance, property taxes, and more. The actual gains are quite a bi...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Friday, June 27, 2014,
http://goldengirlfinance.com/inspiration/?post_id=1629Golden Girl Finance | July 15, 2013
The high cost of being Canadian
The True North may be strong but it isn’t exactly free. At least, not from a household finance perspective.
Last winter, a British economic research group concluded that the cost of living in the UK is 11% higher than the international average and 18% costlier than living in the United States.
No surprise there, right? We have all heard stories or had our own experiences of...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Thursday, May 8, 2014,
http://business.financialpost.com/2013/11/27/bank-of-canada-can-afford-to-put-off-rate-hike-until-2015-imf/
Gordon Isfeld | November 27, 2013
OTTAWA — First, the good news.
Canada’s economy will accelerate in 2014 — clocking in at a pace of 2.25%, easily overtaking this year’s modest growth of nearly half that, according to the world’s largest lending organization.
RBC’s latest research on how much income is needed to maintain ...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Tuesday, March 4, 2014,
http://www.housingwire.com/articles/28551-things-to-know-about-interest-rates-in-2014Trey Garrison | January 10, 2014
Interest rates will go up. Or they will stay the same. One of those two things will definitely happen in 2014, economists say, and some lenders and investors may have trouble adjusting to the change.
"We think rates are generally headed up. We have a growing economy both here and aboard,” said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). "We’r...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Tuesday, March 4, 2014,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/9/11/Canadians-in-top-1-earn-7-times-national-median-Survey.aspxBill Curry | September 11, 2013Canadians in the top one percent are
paid more than $191,000 a year according to the National Household Survey,
which takes a closer look at how governments take from the rich and give to the
poor.
The make-up of the
one percent club is overwhelmingly male, most-likely over the age of 45 and
tends to work in management jobs. Canada's top earners are also more
likely to m...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Thursday, November 14, 2013,
Statistics Canada's third and final release of 2011 National Household Survey data illustrates, among other things, how much Canadians have been earning and where they have been living. Some highlights:
- Fully one-quarter of Canadian households, about 3.3 million, spent 30 per cent or more of their total income on shelter, exceeding the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's "affordability th...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Tuesday, March 6, 2012,
http://www.globeadvisor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/gam/20110628/GICARRICKCOLUMNCARRICKATL Rob Carrick, The Globe and Mail | June 28, 2011
Sell your house and rent: If you're a baby boomer entering retirement, that could be the financial move of a lifetime.The case for selling the family home starts with the fact that years of strong price increases have hugely increased the value of homes across the country over the amount paid for them. What to do with the proceeds after you sell? Invest...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Monday, October 3, 2011,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2011/10/3/US-manufacturing-sector-grows-faster-in-September.aspxReuters | June 6, 2011Building permits posted an unexpected 21-percent decline in April.
BNN speaks with David Madani of Capital Economics about the data – and
his belief that the Canadian housing market is set for a 25 percent
pullback in prices.
BUILDING PERMITS DECLINE
The value of building permits issued in Canada in April unexpectedly
plummeted 21.1 percent from March on weakness in the powerful pro...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Tuesday, March 1, 2011,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2011/2/4/Debt-reduction-versus-RRSP-contributions.aspxDale Jackson, BNN.ca staff for The Globe and Mail | February 4, 2011
Canadians are another RRSP season older – and deeper in debt.
In 2010 we owed $1.48 for every dollar we earned, up from $1.45 the
year before. According to the Ottawa-based Vanier Institute of the
Family we’ve climbed high on the debt mountain: In 1990, the figure was
90 cents.
What’s worse, these figures tell only part of the deb...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Tuesday, March 1, 2011,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2011/2/14/Canadian-commercial-real-estate-reborn-in-2010.aspxSteve Ladurantaye, The Globe and Mail | February 14, 2011The commercial real estate market saw an unprecedented
recovery last year, with investment growing 48 percent as the economy
improved and investors returned to the market.
Canadian commercial real estate
volume reached $18.9 billion in 2010, according to CB Richard Ellis,
from $12.7 billion in 2009. That’s close to the pre-recession peak of
$19.8 ...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Monday, January 17, 2011,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2011/1/17/Flaherty-details-new-mortgage-rules.aspxBill Curry and Grant Robertson, The Globe and Mail | January 17, 2011Concern over rising consumer debt levels is prompting Ottawa to make three new changes to Canada's mortgage rules.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Monday that new federal
rules will reduce the maximum amortization period to 30 years from 35
years for government-backed insured mortgages with loan-to-value ratios
of more than 80 percent.
Secon...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Monday, January 17, 2011,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2010/10/6/Experts-see-more-trouble-for-US-real-estate.aspxReuters | October 6, 2010
Commercial real estate is where the action will be next year,
restructuring and bankruptcy experts said at the Reuters Restructuring
Summit summit on Wednesday.
"I call it a slow-motion train wreck," James Sprayregen, a
restructuring partner at law firm Kirkland & Ellis, said in New
York. "That's probably where I think you're going to see more action
than anything over the n...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Monday, October 4, 2010,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2010/9/21/US-home-building-market-recovers.aspx
Reuters - September 21, 2010U.S. housing starts increased more than expected in August to
their highest level in four months and permits for future home
construction rose, government data showed on Tuesday, suggesting the
embattled housing market was starting to stabilize following the end of a
tax credit.
The Commerce Department said housing starts rose 10.5 percent, the
largest increase since November, to a seasonall...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Monday, September 20, 2010,
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2010/9/15/August-home-resales-jump.aspx
Reuters - September 15, 2010Sales of existing homes in Canada in August rose 4.1 percent from July, the
first monthly increase since March, the Canadian Real Estate Association said
Wednesday.
The industry group said 32,807 homes changed hands in August, with most of
the monthly gains concentrated in the two biggest markets, Ontario and British
Columbia, a reversal from the previous month. Compared with a year earlier, sales w...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Tuesday, September 14, 2010,
Reuters - September 09, 2010
New home prices edged lower in July for the first time in 13 months as a new tax regime took effect and the once-hot housing market continued to cool, according to Statistics Canada data released on Thursday.
The new housing price index slipped 0.1 percent in July, while analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a 0.1 percent increase. Home prices climbed 0.1 percent in June.
Statscan said the introduction of a new sales tax in July in Ontario and British Columbia...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Thursday, September 9, 2010,
Tavia Grant, The Globe and Mail - September 08, 2010
As Canada's housing market softens, the question for many homeowners is how much prices might decline. The Conference Board of Canada waded into the debate Wednesday, saying there will not be a "free fall" in the market but rather a pause in what has been, in recent years, rapid price increases.
The comments come on the same day the Bank of Canada raised its key lending rate for the third time in a row, though it cautioned that further i...
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Posted by Jackelyn Ford on Wednesday, January 27, 2010,
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/in_denial/
In Denial
February 6, 2008
If you have a mortgage on your home, chances are good you also have mortgage insurance. The idea is that if you should become seriously ill or die before paying off the mortgage, the coverage will kick in and pay it off for you. It’s meant to offer peace of mind and to reassure you that your family will be able to stay in your home if anything should happen to you.
T...
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