Canada’s Housing Market Posts Strong Growth in Fourth Quarter Led By Gains in Country’s Largest Markets 

TORONTO, January 13, 2016  – Canada’s residential real estate market showed strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2015, led by hot Vancouver and Toronto markets according to the Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released today. Looking forward to 2016, Royal LePage expects continued price increases in most markets, but not at the pace that has been the recent norm. Instead, the national real estate market is expected to slow later this year, principally due to the effects of a dampened economy in Western Canada and eroding affordability in Toronto and Vancouver.

According to the Royal LePage National House Price

Your rental suite may be a big plus when it comes to selling your home, but there are issues to consider.

Selling a home with an income-generating rental suite has many advantages to potential purchasers, thus giving you, the seller, an edge on the competition in today's evolving real estate market. In general, a rental suite is qualified when the secondary accommodation has its own separate entrance, a kitchen, living area and a bathroom with either a shower or bathtub.

But what type of suite does your property contain? Is it a legal authorized suite, an authorized illegal suite or an illegal unauthorized suite? Let's explore the differences.

A legal, authorized suite is a suite that meets the conditions of your local municipalities zoning

Buying Home Insurance

As a homeowner, you need to insure your house for replacement costs so that in the event of serious damage or destruction you have adequate coverage. Be sure to keep your home insurance current by reporting material changes or upgrades.

Bricks, Mortar and So Much More

Home ownership is one of the largest financial investment decisions Canadians make. Your home may be your biggest source of equity. No matter how well built, your home is vulnerable to fire, vandalism and other types of damage and destruction.

What Is Covered

Coverage can vary from one insurer to the next, so it’s important to select a policy that suits your specific needs. Home insurance covers the dwelling, contents and personal liability of you (the

Is rent to own for you? How does it work?

You may have seen more and more people advertising that they have a house or condo for sale, and offer to do a rent-to-own. It seems to be becoming a popular way for selling a property, but not a lot is known about exactly how it works, and to whose benefit.

When a seller advertises that he will consider doing a rent-to-own deal, he will be looking for someone to lease the house with two contracts. One contract will be a regular lease contract, and the other will deal with the purchasing part of the deal. This contract will be for a period of time that is agreeable to both the seller and the buyer, usually anywhere from one year to three years. Many people think that the seller will simply set aside

The full results of the 2015 selling season have been released from Kamloops and district real estate association (KADREA)

So after a very busy year Kamloops saw 2001 sales with Brocklehurst posting the most sales just ahead of Aberdeen and Sahali.

So how did your community fare this past year?

Some facts on December sales:

Kamloops and District Median Residential Price: $348,000

Kamloops only Median Residential Price (does not include condominiums or mobiles): $375,000

It may not be official, but Canada’s most expensive cities for housing seem to have a “one-bedroom policy” and millennials are no longer buying in.

A new survey from ratesupermarket.ca finds 72.1 per cent of millennials believe their ability to start or expand their family is directly impacted by real estate prices in their region. In Toronto, young families are now facing a detached home that sells for an average price of $1 million, while in Vancouver it’s almost $1.6 million.

There is a notion that if you don’t buy the house with the nice backyard something is wrong with you

The option being rejected by millennials, and other segments of the population, is to start household formation in condominiums — 60 per cent of which are

The Canadian economy is tied closely to the price of oil, meaning crude will have a broad impact over the coming year.

As they say, the cure for high prices is high prices.

That’s the truth at the heart of the collapse in oil prices in 2015, a force that will shape our personal finances in the coming year. In the GTA, it’s good news. The commute is cheaper and so is the cost of heating our homes. It adds up to a tax cut as good as the one the Liberals are giving us.

In the west, where 40,000 industry-related jobs have disappeared, more pain is on the way because the energy rout may only be midstream. Even if it isn’t, more jobs will likely go. Until the price of oil stabilizes, the only thing companies can do is guess and keep

There are distinct advantages to having a Realtor® acting for you in buying or selling a property. With careful selection, you can benefit greatly from the skills of a knowledgeable and sincere Realtor®. There are a number of approaches to finding a good real estate agent. For example, friends, neighbors, and relatives may have the names of agents that they have dealt with and would recommend. Open houses also provide an opportunity to meet Realtors®. Newspaper ads list the names and phone numbers of agents who are active in your area. “For Sale” signs provide an agent’s name and phone number. And real estate firms in your area can be located through the Yellow Pages. Any of course, the Internet is one of the most popular methods of research

Mortgage rates weren’t supposed to make record lows in 2015, not if you asked economists and the Bank of Canada two years ago. But they did. And despite all the chatter about the first U.S. rate hike since 2006, Canadian rates could do it again in 2016.

But interest rates won’t be all that’s changing in the coming 12 months. Here are four mortgage trends you need to watch in 2016.

More missed payments?

Seemingly every year the government throws new rules at the mortgage market, lending gets tighter and the housing market gets safer. But one thing Ottawa can’t control is world economics. Despite manufacturing gains from a cheap loonie, global growth is slowing. That and plunging oil means more Canadians could be out of work, and when people lose

A buyer who fails to close on a purchase may be risking more than just the deposit - you could be looking at damages, says lawyer Richard Bell

Q: What happens to my deposit if I cannot close my purchase?

A: Whenever a buyer makes an offer for the purchase of real estate the contract provides for a deposit. The deposit is normally around 5 per cent of the purchase price and in most instances is payable within a day or two of removal of any subjects. The standard subjects are subject to financing and inspection. Where the property is strata titled there will also be subjects for satisfactory review of such items as strata minutes, engineer’s reports and depreciation reports.

The reason for a deposit is to secure the buyer’s commitment to purchase