Press Release - Sales Statistics for the Montreal Metropolitain Area

Press Release

QFREB

Centris Residentail Sales Statistics for the Montréal Metropolitain Area

Île-des-Sœurs, April 12, 2013

According to the real estate brokers’ provincial database, there were 9,927 residential sales transactions in the Montréal Metropolitan Area in the first quarter of 2013, an 18 per cent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2012, indicated the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards.

“We’re still feeling the effects of the new mortgage rules introduced last summer,” said Diane Ménard, Vice-President of the GMREB Board of Directors and spokesperson for the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) for the Montréal area. “Since the tightening of the rules, this has been the third consecutive quarterly decrease in sales in the Montréal area,” she added.

All property categories and all geographic areas were affected by the sales slowdown in the first quarter of 2013. The North Shore fared best with an 11 per cent decrease in sales.

The median price of single -family homes in the Montréal area increased by 1 per cent to reach $272,000. The median price of condominiums remained stable at $220,000 and that of plexes grew by 2 per cent, reaching $420,000, compared to the first quarter of 2012.

The number of properties for sale increased by 10 per cent in the first quarter of the year, mainly due to a sharp increase in the supply (25 per cent) of condominiums.

“Buyers now have the upper hand on the Montréal condominium market, for the first time in 15 years,” said Paul Cardinal, Manager, Market Analysis, at the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards. “In general, sellers of condominiums must now be more patient as the average selling time reached 108 days in the first quarter of 2013, 18 more days compared to one year earlier,” he added.

Province’s Real Estate Market Slows in First Quarter of 2013

According to the real estate brokers’ provincial database, there were 18,939 residential sales transactions in the province of Québec in the first quarter of 2013, a 16 per cent decrease compared to the first quarter of 2012, indicated the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB).

The decrease in sales was spread across all of the province’s metropolitan areas and most of

Its smaller urban centres. Only the agglomerations of Rouyn-Noranda (+25 per cent), Salaberry-

de-Valleyfield (+6 per cent) and Shawinigan (+6 per cent) bucked the trend and posted an increase in sales. In contrast, the agglomerations of Sept-Îles (-36 per cent), Val-d’Or (-27 per cent) and Drummondville (-28 per cent) registered the largest decreases in sales.

The median price of single-family homes across the province stood at $225,000 in the first quarter of the year, only $1,000 more than in the first quarter of 2012. The largest price increases for single-

family homes were in the agglomerations of Val-d’Or (+15 per cent), Saint-Lin-Laurentides (+8 per cent

), Saint-Hyacinthe (+8 per cent) and Sept-Îles (+7 per cent). Among the Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs), Saguenay registered the largest increase in median price of single-family homes, at 4 per cent.

As for condominiums, the provincial median price reached $208,000 in the first quarter of 2013, up 1 per cent compared to the same period in 2012. The largest price increases were in the agglomerations of Granby (+13 percent) and Saint-Hyacinthe (+8per cent), as well as in the Québec City CMA (+7 per cent.

The number of properties for sale increased for a twelfth consecutive quarter. There were an average of 70,239 properties listed on the Centris ®system in the first quarter of 2013, a 7 per cent increase compared to the first  quarter of last year.  “The increase in supply and the decrease in sales resulted in an easing of market conditions in most urban centres, which translated into smaller price increases and longer average selling times,” explained Paul Cardinal, Manager of the Market Analysis Department at the QFREB.

About the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board

The Greater Montréal Real Estate Board is a non-profit organization that brings together close to 11,000 real estate broker members. Its mission is to actively promote and protect its members' professional and business interests in order for them to successfully meet their business objectives.

About the Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards

The Québec Federation of Real Estate Boards is a non-profit organization composed of Québec's 12 real estate boards and more than 14,000 real estate brokers who are members. Its mission is to promote and protect the interests of Québec’s real estate industry so that the boards and their members can successfully meet their business objectives.

About Centris®

Centris ® , a division of the Greater Montréal Real Estate Board, offers technology resources to Québec’s 12 real estate boards and their 14,000 real estate brokers.  Centris.ca is Québec’s real estate industry website for consumers, grouping all properties for sale by a real estate broker under the same address.

 http://www.fciq.ca/pdf/Communiques_presse/q1_2013_mtl_a.pdf

 http://extranet.centris.ca/MONTREAL/Upload/STATSCENTRIS_MARCH2013.pdf

Royal LePage Launches New Website to Make Home Buying Easier for Canadians

• April 16, 2013

Teams up with Google to deliver state-of-the-art search experience for extensive Canada-wide database of multi-brand property listings

TORONTO, ON, April 16, 2013 – Royal LePage Real Estate Services (Royal LePage) today launched a new, fresh, feature and content-rich website (www.royallepage.ca), working with Google for its leading edge technologies and Plastic Mobile, a leading creative agency.
“Consumers are rightfully demanding that businesses provide them with more useful information online and superior user experiences. When it comes to the business of helping Canadians buy and sell homes, Royal LePage is listening,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive, Royal LePage Real Estate Services.  “This is an exciting time for both the company and consumers. The new www.royallepage.ca offers a dramatically different home-search experience. Faster, more intuitive, and with much greater flexibility. Browsing for homes has never been this enjoyable.”
With the recent introduction of the Canadian Real Estate Association’s Data Distribution Facility (DDF), which facilitates the sharing of co-operating brokers’ property listings, the Royal LePage website now boasts close to 100,000 property listings, doubling its historical listings inventory.  By integrating DDF into the new website, Royal LePage is creating the most consumer-friendly home for real estate listings in Canada. The site will contain listings from multiple brands, not just Royal LePage, ensuring that consumers get the information and experience they want all in one place.
“Through an agreement with the Canadian Real Estate Association, the number of homes listed for sale on www.royallepage.ca has increased dramatically,” continued Mr. Soper. “These tens of thousands of new listings are complemented by richer property data and insightful information about the neighbourhoods themselves.”
To ensure a user experience that is second-to-none, Royal LePage is using some of Google’s renowned technologies like Google Maps and Street View, and its new, innovative and industry-leading cloud-based services, which will ensure site speed, accessibility and reliability. The site also employs Google’s experimental search feature connected to Google Places, which allows consumers to search for homes, not only using standard criteria, but also local landmarks.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Royal LePage,” said Jim Lambe, Google’s head of Enterprise for Canada. “By leveraging Google’s cloud-based services, Royal LePage will be providing a best-in-class experience for consumers.”
The new website also delivers valuable neighbourhood information tailored to, and conveniently displayed with, each property listing.  Most properties will have a Walkscore® ranking, neighbourhood photos and descriptions, and an overview of local amenities, as well as other property listings available in the neighbourhood. The site will be updated regularly to ensure consumers always get up-to-date information.
Given the proliferation of devices, from smart-phones to tablets to laptops with large screen monitors, the website has been designed in a responsive fashion so that it renders the right size of display for each device automatically, further improving the user experience.  It is also highly visual with large buttons and concise text to appeal to the tablet user.
“We are always excited to partner with great brands like Royal LePage who continue to be leaders in their space by embracing new technologies like touch and mobile. As more and more people look to varied devices to gather information anywhere, on the go, it made sense to create a site that’s responsive across myriad platforms,” said Melody Adhami, president and chief operating officer of Plastic Mobile.
“Before Canadians take the big step and buy a home, they seek as much information as possible about properties in the neighbourhoods they’re considering,” said Soper. “With the help of our strategic partners and the latest technologies, Royal LePage has enabled consumers to take their home-search research to a whole new level.”

About Royal LePage

Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country’s leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of 14,000 real estate professionals in over 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women’s & children’s shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbol TSX:BRE.

http://www-c.royallepage.ca/news/royal-lepage-launches-new-website-to-make-home-buying-easier-for-canadians/

En passant, nous ne sommes jamais trop occupés pour vos references!

By the way, we’re never too busy for your referrals!

Diane and Paul Laflamme

Courtiersimmobilier / Real Estate Brokers

Royal LePage Village

Hudson, St-Lazare, Montérégie Ouest, West Island, Montréal

472B rue Main, Hudson, QC J0P 1H0

Email: dplaflamme@videotron.ca

Tel: Bureau:  450.458.5365

Cell: 514.715.4514

Fax: 450.458.3394

Despite Challenges, Canada’s Generation Y Still Plan to Own Homes, According to Royal LePage National Survey

New mortgage regulations and current home prices seen as obstacles by
Generation Y

TORONTO, ON, March 20, 2013 – Although there are genuine hurdles to owning a home for Canadians, a new Royal LePage Real Estate survey shows that Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1994) and Baby Boomers (born between 1947 and 1966) still strongly desire a house of their own.
The survey conducted by Leger Marketing found that four-in-five (80.9 per cent) of the Generation Y sample indicated that they have plans to move to another primary residence at some point in the future, with significant proportion (39 per cent) stating that they have a move planned at some point in the next two years. Baby Boomers were less interested in moving, with 56.6 per cent stating that they currently have no plans to move to another residence.
“Baby Boomers have built homes for themselves. They are established in their neighbourhoods and their residences have become a place of happiness for family and friends,” said Phil Soper, CEO of Royal LePage Real Estate. “It’s their children that are seeking to create a similar atmosphere of their own, even though new impediments exist for this younger generation.”
While Generation Y is more likely to rent their primary residence at this stage in their lives, they do not see this as desirable long-term solution. An overwhelming 85.7 per cent disagreed with the statement that “I do not desire to own a property in my lifetime as renting is preferable to me,” including 90.5 per cent of Quebecers. British Columbians in the same age group were among the most open to renting, with one-in-five (21.4 per cent) saying they prefer renting over home ownership.
Of those who are planning a move, 55.1 per cent of Generation Y and 60.1 per cent of Baby Boomers intend to purchase their next primary residence. While the majority prefers to purchase their next home, a sizeable proportion of Generation Y (32.6 per cent) says they plan to rent. When examined regionally, there are some interesting divergences in intentions on buying versus renting. For instance, Generation Y in the Prairies and Quebec (62.6 and 61.3 per cent, respectively) intend to purchase their next primary residence. On the other hand, British Columbians in the same age group are less likely to become home buyers, with 38.3 per cent stating that they intend to rent their next primary residence.
Regardless of intent to move or not, Canadians remain confident in the sturdiness of the real estate market. Trust in the value of real estate remains very high amongst Canadians young and old. The majority of respondents from both groups stated that they see real estate as a sound investment, including 80.3 per cent of Generation Y and 88.7 per cent of Baby Boomers. Only approximately one-in-ten (8.5 per cent and 12.8 per cent, respectively) from either group did not believe that real estate was a sound investment.
“Across locations and ages, Canadians are investing in their future and they see value in real estate,” said Soper.
While interest in home ownership remains high, potential home buyers from Generation Y face a number of regulatory and financial barriers. For instance, the survey found discontent among Generation Y about recent changes made to mortgage rules. Just under half of respondents (45.8 per cent) said that the new rules will affect their ability to purchase a home to some or a large extent. A much smaller proportion (20.8 per cent) of Baby Boomers was concerned about the effect of the recent regulatory changes to mortgages.
Home affordability was also seen by many as a major challenge standing in the way of home ownership by both Generation Y and Baby Boomers. When asked, 72.4 per cent of Generation Y and 67.8 per cent of Baby Boomers agreed with the statement “I desire to own a property in my lifetime, but I am pessimistic about my ability to own a home because of the current house price affordability.” British Columbians of Generation Y were particularly pessimistic, with 86.1 per cent agreeing with this statement. Quebecers were more optimistic with 39.9 per cent disagreeing with this statement.
Down payments on real estate also represent a challenge to Generation Y homebuyers, many of whom are entering the real estate market for the first time. Almost two-thirds (63.8 per cent) of Generation Y respondents plan to put down less than 20 per cent as a down payment on a new property. The majority of funds for down payments from Generation Y homebuyers (an average of 67 per cent) will come from a combination of savings, RRSP contributions and gifts from family. On average only 27 per cent of the funds for a Generation Y down payment will come from a sale of the current residence. The trend is opposite for Baby Boomers, where almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of their down payment will come from the sale of their current residence.

Royal LePage Baby Boomer and Generation Y Survey
	Generation Y (1980 – 1994)	Baby Boomers (1947 – 1966)
Do you plan to purchase or rent your next primary residence?
Purchase	55.1%	60.1%
Rent	32.6%	18.0%
Other	0.8%	3.2%
Don’t know	11.5%	18.7%
To what extent have the new mortgage rules affected your ability to purchase a home?
To a large extent	12.5%	6.9%
To some extent	33.3%	13.9%
To a little extent	17.4%	9.4%
To no extent at all	14.0%	65.8%
I don’t know/prefer not to answer	22.8%	4.0%
How strongly do you agree or disagree with this statement? “I desire to own a property in my lifetime, but I am pessimistic about my ability to own a home because of current house price affordability.”
Strongly disagree	7.4%	12.3%
Somewhat disagree	16.4%	13.9%
Somewhat agree	44.2%	36.4%
Strongly agree	28.3%	31.4%
I don’t know/prefer not to answer	3.8%	6.0%

Methodology

The survey was completed online using Leger Marketing’s online panel, LegerWeb, between September 13th and September 21st, 2012 with a sample of 1,013 Canadians born between the years 1980 and 1994 (Generation Y) and 1,011 Canadians born between the years 1947 and 1966 (Boomers). A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of ± 3.08 per cent, 19 times out of 20, for each respective sample.

Staying put: Baby boomers not selling, skewing Canada’s housing market

Demographics are expected to have a profound effect on Canada’s housing market in the coming years, resulting in less housing turnover as well as fewer sales and listings, according to a new report by Scotiabank Economics.

But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“Contrary to some dire predictions, population aging will not fuel a demographically-induced sell-off in Canadian real estate,” Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren told a conference on global housing trends Monday.

“Today’s seniors are healthier, wealthier and living longer than prior generations. They are increasingly likely to own their own home and to live in their homes for longer.

“Many will not need to tap into their principal home to finance retirement,” she said.

Home ownership rates are only likely to decline as the massive wave of baby boomers, the first of whom are now in their late 60s, start to hit age 75. But even at that later stage of life, close to 70 per cent of Canadians still tend to own and live in their own homes, said Warren.

And they’re usually too comfortable and attached to their communities, to move, Warren says in her report.

Over a five-year period, just 20 per cent of homeowners over 65 tend to move, about half the rate of the rest of the population. When they do, it tends to be into retirement communities or rental accommodation, which bodes well for rental demand down the road, she noted.

Housing demand is also likely to be tempered in the next few decades, she said, by slowing population growth.

While the United States is outpacing the rest of the world in recovering from the devastating downturn of its housing market, “the long-anticipated slowdown in Canadian housing activity is well underway” but not likely to result in drastic dips in prices.

Sales are down about 10 per cent since last spring, housing starts have dropped from 220,000 to 180,000 year-over-year, first-time buyers and even investors are taking a breather, said Warren.

All of that is likely to continue with job growth expected to slow, she added.

By: Susan Pigg Business Reporter, Published on Mon Mar 18 2013

www.thestar.com/business 

The psychology of home buying

What happens inside your head when you choose a home? You may think you're deciding by logic, but don't be so sure

By Patrick Langston, The Ottawa Citizen March 7, 2013

You'd buy a sweater on impulse, but when it comes to buying a home it's all about calm deliberation, right? You might be surprised.
Price, square footage, location: "All that can be trumped by the visceral reaction of seeing a home," says June Cotte, who teaches marketing at Western University's Ivey Business School.
"Smells, colours, sounds you can hear inside or from the outside - you might not be aware of them, but they can have an influence."
The layout may even subliminally remind you of the home of a former boyfriend, says Cotte. That can have a positive or negative emotional impact on how you perceive a home that's for sale.
In fact, a study published in the Journal of Advertising Research in 2002 said emotions can be twice as important as knowledge in consumer buying decisions. Subsequent research has determined that the role of emotion in buying situations varies by individual and circumstance, but there's no doubt that, overall, it's a critical factor in consumer behaviour.
And while it's important to feel an emotional tie to the place you live in (it can inspire everything from maintaining the house properly to caring about your community), abandoning your inner Mr. Spock and his logic isn't wise.
Take aspiration, for example. We judge a potential purchase in part by whether we think it will represent what we would like to be and how we'd like to be perceived. An empty nester, however, might actually be happier staying in peaceful suburbia instead of buying a loft in a noisy downtown area just because he fancies himself a young-again urban hipster.
As well, we fall victim to confirmation bias, the pervasive tendency to cherry pick or interpret information that confirms our preconceptions. We fall in love with a house and so we dismiss the mouldy smell, saying the place just needs a little airing out.
We also readily become invested psychologically in a property before we've reached a rational decision, according to professor Michael J. Seiler, who specializes in behavioural real estate at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
"You're looking at a house and suddenly start thinking of the community and the neighbours and how they'll be your friends.
"Expectations, fears, desire for status - a lot of stuff influences you," he says. "So be cautious, try to be rational."
Influences are at work before you ever enter a prospective home. Billboard, newspaper and other advertising, although frequently banal, fosters expectations, says Cotte.
If a builder advertises extensively, for example, you might make the illogical assumption that because the company spends oodles of money on advertising it must be profitable so it must be good. "It's called accessibility bias," she says. "The most accessible brands, the ones that immediately come to mind, we value as being positive."
Urbandale general manager Matthew Sachs says when advertising, "you hook with emotion and reel in with intellect." A radio ad, for example, might ask, "Remember the first time you fell in love?" It would then segue from romantic love to love of a house, tack on some factual benefits - energy efficiency for example, although Sachs says that might be couched as "comfort" or "you'll save money" - and exit with another emotional hook.
When it comes to face-to-face sales, Sachs says Urbandale has no defined strategy except to listen closely to what the prospective buyer wants.
His advice to home hunters: "Excitement is important if you're buying a house, but do your research. Validate and verify."
Eric Manherz, a Royal LePage real estate broker in Ottawa, says a good agent will help clients keep emotions in check and concentrate on finding what it is they really want. That, he says, takes time and may not be what they had originally thought.
He also sees peer pressure at work. "People at coffee break say, 'You should never offer full price.' In some cases, you should. And maybe those people bought years ago, when the market was different."
Because having too many choices usually means we make no choice, Manherz suggests after a day of house hunting to scratch most of what you've seen off your list.
That will also help control what Cotte terms "anchoring and adjustment bias": if you've seen 20 crummy houses and then one decent one, you'll assess the decent one as being better than it actually is.
And do not - repeat, do not - feel guilty for making your real estate agent troop around for days on end or think you have to please him or her by buying.
And what if, by following all this advice, you feel you missed out on the "perfect" home?
Says Manherz, "There's always another opportunity."

2013 is primed to be the year of the multi-family property

 

 2013 is primed to be the year of the multi-family property, according to a new report:

http://canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/expert-advice/commercial/item/1508-2013-the-year-of-the-multi-family-property


2013 is primed to be the year of the multi-family property, according to a new report, tracking Canadian investment trends, increasingly influenced by an iffy global economy.

"The strength of the sector will be fuelled by strong demand drivers and constrained supply characteristics," reads the study by Morguard Corp., a publicly traded property management firm. "Negligible new construction will also act as a booster of generally tight conditions in the rental market."
The forecast anticipates occupancy rates hovering close to the 98.0% mark nationally, with rents will continuing to rise,although capped to some degree rental control legislation.
"The multi-family residential rental sector will see largely stable and healthy performances in the coming year, as was the case through all of 2012," Morguard continues. "Steady growth in property values over the past few years may ease in 2013, however values will continue to range at the peak."
That analysis jives with that of other market watchers, who point to inmigration and scarcity of product for the bullishness in the marketplace.
Uncertainty around alternative investments -- stocks, bonds, etc -- is also driving demand for multi, although new-build construction is still a daunting propostion for many smaller investors fearful of losting a cap rate advantage.
Other key projections from Morguard include:

• Property values will continue to range at the cycle peak supported by robust investment demand, low interest rates, and historically low long-term bond yields
• Income performance strength will remain a fixture over the near term as rental markets in all sectors post strong occupancy characteristics, positive demand trends, and modest increases in rental rates
• Robust purchasing activity in the investment sector will continue to feature a significant REIT sector component, however pension funds and private capital will remain active
• Conservative construction volume in the office and industrial sectors over 2013 will ensure rental market conditions improve however, as 2013 ends risk levels will rise with the increase in office development in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary

Excellent Article on the housing market in Canda

New housing numbers point to soft landing
Popular catastrophist scenario appears increasingly unlikely
Written by Jay Bryan, Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL — For more than a year, there have been two competing narratives about the future path of Canada’s high-flying housing market: total collapse and moderate decline. The moderates, if we can call them that, still seem to me to have the better argument, especially when you consider the unexpectedly upbeat housing resale figures last month.
Friday’s report from the Canadian Real Estate Association demonstrates that national home sales continue to be significantly lower than those of a year ago, but that virtually all of this decline happened abruptly last August, reflecting a tough squeeze on mortgage-lending conditions in July by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Since then, however, there’s been no further month-to-month downtrend, notes CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.
Prices, which don’t necessarily track sales right away, have also weakened, but less. While sales are down five per cent from one year ago, average national prices are actually up by three per cent, as measured by the CREA Home Price Index. However, this year-over-year price gain has slid gradually from the 4.5 per cent recorded in July.
What’s the bottom line? In my opinion, it’s that the catastrophist scenario detailed not just by eccentric bloggers but also in national newspapers and magazines, looks increasingly unlikely.
That’s not to say this outcome is utterly impossible. At least one highly regarded consulting firm, Capital Economics, has been predicting for two years that this country faces a 25-per-cent plunge in average home prices. This is the kind of drop — almost comparable to the 30-per-cent-plus crash in the U.S. — that would probably trigger a bad recession, especially in today’s environment of subdued economic growth.
David Madani, the economist responsible for this frightening prediction, understands the housing numbers very well, but he simply doesn’t share most other analysts’ relative equanimity about what they mean.
Yes, Canada’s banks are financially stronger and more prudent in their lending than their U.S. counterparts, he acknowledges, and yes, there’s little evidence of the fraud and regulatory irresponsibility that worsened the U.S. catastrophe, but he sees the psychology of overoptimistic buyers as uncomfortably similar. What looks like enormous overbuilding of condos in the hot Toronto market help to make his point, as does the still-stratospheric price of Vancouver housing.
Madani certainly has a point, but the countervailing evidence seems even stronger.
A key example is the behaviour of Canada’s housing market over the past six months. The latest squeeze on mortgage lending, the fourth in five years, is also the toughest, points out economist Robert Kavcic of BMO Capital Markets. It drove up the cost of carrying a typical loan by nearly one percentage point, or about $150 a month on a $300,000 mortgage. And as this shock was hitting the housing market, Canada’s employment growth was slowing.
In a market held aloft by speculative psychology, it seems very likely that such a hammer blow would bring about the very crash that pessimists have been predicting. Instead, though, the market reacted pretty much as it had during previous rounds of Flaherty’s campaign to rein in the housing market, notes Derek Burleton, deputy chief economist at the TD Bank.

Sales dropped moderately, but the decline didn’t feed on itself as it would in an environment of collapsing speculative hopes. Instead, the market proved to be rather resilient, with sales plateauing and then actually rising a bit in January. Burleton, along with Kavcic and Robert Hogue, an economist at the Royal Bank who follows housing, believe that we’ve already seen most of the market downside that will result from Flaherty’s move.
This doesn’t mean that the market is out of the woods. It’s still overvalued, not hugely, but by something like 10 per cent, Burleton estimates. But moderate overvaluation can persist for years unless the market is hit by some shock to incomes or interest rates.
While there’s no agreement on the path prices take from here, some of these analysts think they’ll drift down slowly, maybe three to eight per cent over a few years. At the same time, rising take-home pay will be shrinking the amount of overvaluation, creating a more sustainable market. Let’s hope they’re right.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/homes/Bryan+housing+numbers+point+soft+landing/7973381/story.html#ixzz2LT23iQ98

Connected to your community/ Branchés sur votre communauté

By the way, we’re never too busy for your referrals!

En passant, nous ne sommes jamais trop occupés pour vos references!

Paul & Diane Laflamme

Agents immobilier

Royal LePage Village

dlaflamme@royallepage.ca 

Needs vs. Wants

       

Learn how your agent can help you assess your needs and wants so you can purchase the right home at the right price.
» More Home Buying Videos

Separating your must-have features from the ones you can live without

Just as you wouldn’t set out to buy the Thanksgiving Day groceries without a list, you shouldn’t start looking at houses before you know for sure what you want and need in a home.
Focus your home search early on by writing out the features your new house absolutely must have, and those features that, while nice to have, are not necessarily deal breakers.
You can start by asking yourself the following questions:

Cost

Knowing your budget will help you decide which of your desired home features should stay on your shortlist. Here are the two factors to consider:

• How much can I afford to spend on my new house?
• How much renovating and remodeling am I willing to do?

Neighbourhood

Some home buyers are willing to compromise on location, and for others location is everything. To determine how important it is to you, answer these questions:

• Where do I want to live? (community/general area)
• Is the quality and proximity of schools a factor?
• How far am I willing to commute to work?
• Is being close to public transportation important?
• Which amenities should be close by? (grocery store, medical clinic, mechanic)

The basics

These are the features every prospective home buyer must consider. Determine which ones you’re dead-set on, and which ones could go either way:

• Do I want a brand new house, or an older one?
• What style of house do I prefer? (ranch, colonial, split-level, multi-level, town home, condo, multi-family, bungalow, other)
• How big a home do I want? How many square feet?
• What sort of lot would I like? (small yard, large yard, fenced, garage, patio/deck, other buildings)
• How many bedrooms do I need? How many would I like to have?
• How many bathrooms do I need? How many would I like to have?

Special features

Although special features are less important than the basics, most home owners have at least a few they’re not willing to compromise on. Find out which are must-haves for you:

• What features are important in your new house? (air conditioning, carpeting, ceramic tile floors, hardwood floors, eat-in kitchen, separate dining room, formal living room, family room, den, library, basement, separate laundry room, fireplace, workshop)
• Do I have special medical issues that require accommodation, such as wheelchair access ramps?
• Do I have pets to consider? (fence, big yard, mud room)

Royal LePage sales representatives are your residential real estate experts. For helpful advice about buying a home in your area, contact Diane and Paul Laflamme, Real Estate Brokers. 

Market Analysis

It’s time to decide on an asking price. You know that setting the right price for current housing market conditions is crucial, and you’ve been told that overpricing can spell death for a new listing. But how do you determine the fair market value of your home if you don’t know the intricacies of your local housing market?
Wouldn’t it be great if you had some insider knowledge? Some sort of real estate cheat sheet that gives the inside scoop on the local real estate market?
It would have to contain valuable information that you could never determine on your own, like how much your neighbors’ houses are selling for and the current mood of the local housing market. And just what is that all-important asking price that will ensure maximum return on your investment without pricing you out of contention?
There’s good news! Such a document does exist, and you can have it thanks to your local Royal LePage real estate agent. When you sign on to work with a Royal LePage sales representative, you’ll receive a custom-prepared Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) that indicates what today’s buyers are willing to pay for a house like yours in your area.
Your agent does this property assessment by comparing the market activity and prices of homes in your neighbourhood that are similar to yours. Prices for homes that have recently sold represent what buyers are prepared to pay. The price of homes currently listed for sale represents the price sellers hope to obtain. And those listings that have expired were generally overpriced or poorly marketed.
The CMA gives you a sales edge that your competitors may not have. The for-sale-by-owner (FSBO) crowd can’t access information like this. Real estate industry insiders have proprietary access to much of the data used in the analysis, and it’s your agent’s years of experience and intimate knowledge of the local housing market that makes him best qualified to interpret the data and make sound recommendations.
Sure, you may see what people are asking for their homes by studying MLS listings, but that doesn’t help you determine the actual selling price. The selling price almost always differs from the asking price, sometimes drastically depending on the state of the real estate market.
And because your agent earns their livelihood from the buying and selling of homes in your neighbourhood, you can be assured they have an ear to the ground where market conditions are concerned. By understanding and evaluating the local housing market, your agent can adjust the sales strategy accordingly.
The last thing you want is your unsold home languishing because the selling strategy was developed without considering whether it’s a seller’s market, a buyer’s market, or somewhere in between (balanced).
Understanding market conditions is as simple as knowing the basic law of supply and demand. When there are more homes for sale than there are potential buyers, house prices drop. When there are fewer houses on the market than there are buyers, house prices will climb. When the number of homes on the market is roughly equal to the number of buyers, it’s called a balanced market.
Here’s how the housing market could affect your approach to selling:

Seller’s market

This is the ideal position for a seller. With fewer homes to choose from, competition between buyers becomes a factor. This can spawn bidding wars that drive prices up.
You can expect to sell your home faster in a seller’s market, and when it comes time to negotiate, you may not need to compromise on any unattractive conditions requested by the buyer.

Buyer’s market

Your position as a seller becomes a little trickier in a buyer’s market. A buyer’s market means that you face more competition from other sellers. Your home may stay on the market longer, which can give the buyer more leverage.
Expect to sell for a little less, and be prepared to compromise or accept conditional offers more readily than you would in a seller’s housing market.

Balanced market

Selling in a balanced market is a much more predictable endeavour. With sellers and buyers in equilibrium, home prices stabilize and the atmosphere on both sides of the transaction becomes relaxed.
Contact a local Diane and Paul Laflamme at Royal LePage Village to  find out how they would market your home in the current housing market.

Analyse de marché

Le moment est venu de décider d’un prix de vente. Vous savez que la fixation du juste prix en tenant compte des conditions immobilières actuelles est cruciale, et on vous a dit que le fait de demander un prix excessif peut être tragique pour une nouvelle inscription. Mais comment déterminer la juste valeur marchande de votre propriété sans connaître les subtilités du marché immobilier local?
Ne serait-il pas formidable de posséder quelques connaissances d’expert? Une sorte d’aide mémoire immobilier qui vous tient au fait des primeurs du marché immobilier local?
Il pourrait renfermer de précieux renseignements que vous ne pourriez jamais trouver seul, par exemple le prix de vente des propriétés du voisinage, l’état actuel du marché immobilier local, et ce prix de vente à demander qui est si important pour maximiser le rendement du capital investi sans vous exclure du marché.
Et voici la bonne nouvelle : un tel document existe déjà, et l’agent immobilier Royal LePage de votre région se fera un plaisir de vous le remettre! Lorsque vous commencerez à travailler avec un agent immobilier Royal LePage, vous recevrez une analyse comparative de marché (ACM) personnalisée indiquant quel prix les acheteurs sont prêts à payer actuellement pour une propriété comme la vôtre dans le quartier.
Votre agent immobilier fait cette analyse de propriété en comparant l’activité du marché et le prix des propriétés semblables à la vôtre dans votre quartier. Le prix des propriétés qui ont récemment été vendues représente ce que les acheteurs sont prêts à payer. Les propriétés inscrites sont offertes au prix que les vendeurs espèrent obtenir. Les propriétés dont les inscriptions sont échues étaient généralement surévaluées ou mises en marché de façon inadéquate.
L’ACM vous donnera une marge relative à la vente que vos concurrents n’auront peut être pas. Les très nombreux vendeurs qui posent l’affiche « À vendre par le propriétaire » n’auront pas accès à une telle information. Les experts de l’industrie de l’immobilier bénéficient d’un accès exclusif à la plus grande partie des données de cette analyse. C’est pourquoi les nombreuses années d’expérience de votre agent immobilier et son étroite connaissance du marché immobilier local en font la personne la mieux qualifiée pour interpréter ces données et faire des recommandations avisées.
C’est vrai, vous pourrez voir quel prix demandent les vendeurs pour leurs propriétés en examinant les inscriptions SIA, mais cela ne vous aidera pas à déterminer le prix de vente réel. Celui-ci diffère presque toujours du prix demandé, parfois même considérablement selon l’état du marché immobilier.
Et dans la mesure où votre agent immobilier gagne sa vie en achetant et en vendant des propriétés dans votre quartier, soyez assuré qu’il est à l’affût de tout ce qui a trait aux conditions du marché. En comprenant et en évaluant le marché immobilier local, votre agent immobilier peut modifier la stratégie de vente en conséquence.
La dernière chose que vous souhaitez voir se produire, c’est que votre propriété ne se vende pas parce que la stratégie de vente a été mise au point sans tenir compte du fait que vous vous trouvez dans un marché vendeur, acheteur ou quelque part entre les deux (soit dans un marché équilibré).
Comprendre les conditions du marché est aussi simple que comprendre la loi de l’offre et de la demande. Lorsqu’il y a plus de propriétés à vendre que d’acheteurs potentiels, le prix des propriétés baisse. Inversement, lorsqu’il y a moins de propriétés sur le marché que d’acheteurs, le prix des propriétés grimpe. Et lorsque le nombre de propriétés sur le marché est à peu près équivalent au nombre d’acheteurs, on parle de marché équilibré.
Voilà comment le marché immobilier pourrait influencer votre approche à titre de vendeur :

Marché vendeur

C’est la position idéale pour un vendeur! Le nombre de propriétés à vendre étant plus réduit, la concurrence entre les acheteurs joue un certain rôle. Elle peut engendrer des guerres d’enchères qui feront monter les prix.
Vous pouvez vous attendre à vendre votre propriété plus rapidement dans un marché vendeur, et quand viendra le temps de négocier, vous n’aurez peut être pas à faire de compromis sur des conditions désavantageuses exigées par l’acheteur.

Marché acheteur

À titre de vendeur, votre situation devient un peu plus délicate dans un marché acheteur. Sur ce marché, vous êtes confronté à une concurrence accrue de la part des autres vendeurs. Votre propriété peut rester plus longtemps sur le marché, ce qui donne à l’acheteur une plus grande marge de manœuvre.
Attendez vous à vendre un peu moins cher et à faire des compromis ou à accepter des offres conditionnelles beaucoup plus facilement que vous ne le feriez dans un marché vendeur.

Marché équilibré

Vendre dans un marché équilibré devient un exercice beaucoup plus prévisible. Puisque le nombre de vendeurs et d’acheteurs est équilibré, le prix des propriétés se stabilise et l’ambiance devient plus détendue pour les deux parties dans la transaction.

Unmarried Quebec couples have no right to alimony, court rules

Unmarried Quebec couples who live together and then split up are not entitled to the same rights as legally married couples, when it comes to spousal support, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.

By a 5-4 margin, the top court decision released Friday says the province's civil code is constitutional in its treatment of the financial entitlement of couples who are not legally married and who separate.

The decision means Quebec remains the only province that does not recognize "de facto" marriages.
The ruling has broad implications in a province where the 31.5 per cent of couples report being in de facto relationships, versus an average of 12.1 per cent in the rest of Canada.
Justice Louis LeBel, writing for the five-judge majority, said there was no charter violation at play because the current provincial law promotes autonomy.
"The Quebec National Assembly has not favoured one form of union over another," he wrote.
"The legislature has merely defined the legal content of the different forms of conjugal relationships. It has made consent the key to changing the spouses' mutual patrimonial relationship.

"In this way, it has preserved the freedom of those who wish to organize their patrimonial relationships outside the mandatory statutory framework."

While the province's Civil Code does not regulate the status of de facto spouses, some laws — including those governing social assistance, income tax and Quebec's Pension Plan — treat them as a couple.

The case that sparked the debate, known as Lola vs. Eric, had been making its way through the court system for years. It involved a Quebec couple who never married, but lived together for seven years and share three children.
A court order prevents the publication of the parties' real names.
Pierre Bienvenu, the lawyer representing "Eric," said his client is relieved the long court process is over and is satisfied with the decision.
"It is really by force that he was dragged into this long debate," Bienvenu said.

After separating, Lola sought spousal support, but Quebec's Civil Code provides no such provision for couples who are not legally married.
Lola had been seeking a $50-million lump-sum payment as well as $56,000 a month from her former spouse — a well-known Quebec business tycoon known in the case as Eric. Lola was 17 when she met the then 32-year-old entrepreneur.
When they split, Eric agreed to pay generous child support — but he rejected the lump sum and annual alimony settlement claim.
The woman took her case to the Quebec Superior Court in 2009, when a judge rejected her claims, saying that under existing law, partners in a de facto relationship have no rights, duties and responsibilities to each other — no matter how many years they've lived together.

Lawyer says 'ball back in legislators' court'

In November 2010, a Quebec Court of Appeal decision invalidated that section of the civil code, saying the law discriminates against unmarried couples, and the province was given one year to change the law.
The Quebec government described that ruling as a mistake, and appealed to the Supreme Court.
Guy Pratte, the lawyer who argued Lola's case, said Friday morning that he was disappointed with the decision, but it doesn't mean the matter is settled.
"The implication for Quebec society is that the ball is now back in the legislators' court."

Quebec Justice Minister Bertrand St-Arnaud said the decision "confirms the principle of freedom of choice which has always governed life in Quebec, in other words the freedom of couples who choose the rules that will govern their union."
He said there are already a number of options open to unmarried couples who want the same rights as married couples, including civil unions and a cohabitation contract.
St-Arnaud also said it may be time for a "general reflection" on the status of families under the law.

"It's true that in the last decade, our social and family realities have evolved, and is it time for us to start to think again about the regime in our civil code? Maybe."
Statistics Canada says nearly 1.4 million Quebecers are in what the federal agency calls "common-law" relationships, according to the 2011 census, and about 60 per cent of children are born to such unmarried couples.
With files from The Canadian Press

 http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDEQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbc.ca%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2Fmontreal%2Fstory%2F2013%2F01%2F25%2Fsupreme-court-ruling-eric-vs-lola-quebec-civil-code.html&ei=HwoDUcLMNc-K0QGvs4HwAQ&usg=AFQjCNGqZPWuv5OIm8BtBskJt8EA4fhabg&bvm=bv.41524429,d.dmg&cad=rja

Bank of Canada overestimated growth, rates to stay low longer

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada is signalling interest rates will need to stay at super-low levels for longer than it previously thought, citing a deterioration in the economy that has reduced inflationary pressures and set back expectations for growth. As expected, the central bank's policy setting team kept the trendsetting interest rate at one per cent Wednesday, where it has been for almost two-and-a-half years.

But in a mild surprise, the bank went further by issuing a new advisory to Canadians and financial markets that the anticipated need to raise rates in the future is now less imminent.
It feels free to issue such an advisory, it said, in part because it is less worried about record levels of consumer debt and the housing market, both of which appear to be moderating. And inflation pressures, with evidence the consumer price index will stay around one per cent for some time, are at the lowest since the recessionary period.

"While some modest withdrawal of monetary policy stimulus will likely be required over time, consistent with achieving the two per cent inflation target, the more muted inflation outlook and the beginnings of a more constructive evolution of imbalances in the household sector suggests that the timing any such withdrawal is less imminent than previously anticipated," the bank explained.


The Canadian dollar dropped more than half a cent on the news and was trading at 100.09 cents US in mid-morning trading. Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter said he believes the central bank will keep interest rates where they are for the remainder of 2013. "The prior reason for the seeming disconnect between the tough talk and a squishy soft economy was the bank's laser-like focus on the build-up in household debt," Porter said. "With the bank now sending some fairly strong signals that it thinks the path for household debt is moderating meaningfully, the case for rate hikes has receded accordingly."

The interest rate statement and accompanying monetary policy report — a comprehensive analysis of global and Canadian conditions — constitute of a bit of a climb-down for the bank's forecasting unit, which had been staying with its growth story for the economy as recently as October, when most private sector forecasters were downgrading projections.

The bank now says the just concluded fourth quarter of 2012 will see a below par growth rate of one per cent, rather than the 2.5 per cent it had predicted.
And it downgraded growth by three-tenths of a point for both 2012 and 2013, to 1.9 per cent and 2.0 per cent respectively. The bank still has faith the economy will return to strength, however, starting this year and picking up speed in 2014, when growth will average 2.7 per cent.

The bank's latest estimates appear more in line with the consensus of private sector economists, although it remains slightly sunnier than the International Monetary Fund, which released a new forecast Wednesday predicting Canada's economy would advance by 1.8 per cent this year.

The Canadian central bank's judgment is that the sharp downturn in growth at the second half of 2012 was due to weaker global markets for Canadian exports, uncertainty about how the U.S. would deal with its short-term budget crisis that kept business from investing, and temporary factors — such as shutdowns and pipeline bottlenecks in the energy sector. Along with lower prices obtained by western producers, the energy sector difficulties trimmed 0.4 percentage points from Canadian growth in the latter half of the year, the bank said. The damage will have lasting impacts. The economy has more slack today than it did six months ago, and will need until to the fall of 2014 to return to full capacity. As well, Canada's economy can no longer count on household spending and the housing sector to propel it forward.

In a change from previous reports, the bank says Canadian household debt is stabilizing at around the record 165 per cent of annual disposable income, and credit growth has sharply declined from a peak of 12 per cent in 2008 to 5.5 per cent in 2012, and 3.0 per cent in the three months to November.

Home sales have fallen, as has construction activity, and prices may follow suit.
This is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the trends are exactly what bank governor Mark Carney and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty repeatedly requested, given that an overheated housing market and high consumer debt puts the economy at risk long-term. On the other hand, the bank worries that too much of a good thing will be the medicine that kills the patient.
"If there were a sudden weakening in the Canadian housing sector, it could have sizable spillover effects on other areas of the economy," the bank warns.

Still, there was good news in the policy report. The bank believes there are fewer imminent risks facing global economies, which should boost Canadian exports and business investment going forward.

"The bank projects a return to above-potential growth in the Canadian economy through 2013," it says, "supported in particular by rebounds in business fixed investment and exports."
It notes, however, that the improvements in these areas will not be major.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Bank+Canada+says+overestimated+growth+interest+rates+stay+longer/7860237/story.html#ixzz2Iu2iZ9Eb

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Bank+Canada+says+overestimated+growth+interest+rates+stay/7860237/story.html