Realty Star - March 28, 2015

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CONNECT CONSTRUCTION PAGES 11TH EDITION 2015-2016

S

o you think Calgary’s housing market has seen a major downturn this year?

Just take a look at what’s happening in the heart of Alberta’s oilsands industry as crude’s price collapse continues.

MLS sales of single-family homes in Fort McMurray and its surrounding area have plunged this year. In February, sales were down by a whopping 66% from a year ago, at just 48 units. That followed an annual decline of 53.19% in January.

Don Campbell, senior analyst with the Real Estate Investment Network, said smaller centres located in resource-based regions, such as Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie always have higher highs and lower lows than the more diverse and larger cities.

“The housing markets themselves are smaller and therefore statistically a small increase or reduction in sales figures have a much more pronounced affect on housing

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Fort McMurray’s housing market nose dives market numbers,” said Campbell. “When a city or region’s economy is based on one major industry, when that industry slows, the consumer confidence in the whole city begins to fade thus increasing the overall market fear. The reverse is also true, when that industry is in full throttle, the positive impact is just as strong.

“Strategic investors and homeowners who have been through these inevitable cycles before understand them and prepare for them. However, traditionally these resource centres have large in-migration during good times and these first timers for the cycle are often the most over-responsive to the highs and lows of the market.”

Year-over-year, Grand Prairie had a 37.1% decline in sales during the month while Lloydminster was down by 46.7%.

The average price for a single-family home

in Fort McMurray in February was down 5.5%, to $746,202.

down by 23%.

In contrast, MLS sales in the City of Calgary were down 34.22% on an annual basis in February following a decline of 38.85% in January. Edmonton saw year-over-year drops in residential sales of 17.02% in February and 25.92% in January.

The average MLS sale price in Calgary for February was $462,294, down 4.24% year-over-year while in Edmonton the average sale price rose by 0.68% to $362,432.

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, month-to-date March 1-15, there were 762 MLS sales in the city, which was down 33.62% from the same period last year but the average sale price has risen by 0.14% to $480,901 and new listings are off by 10.68% to 1,463.

Active listings of 980 at the end of February were up by 11% while new listings of 215 were

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2 i Saturday, March 28, 2015

real estate / finance

Seven mistakes Millennials make when buying real estate

Y

ou’ve cut back on lattes, taken a soul-crushing job on Burrard Street or 2nd Street SW, and borrowed from mom and dad. Congrats! You’re ready to put down a chunk of cash to cover the 20% downpayment on a property. But don’t make newbie mistakes, like trusting your bank to look after you. “The reality is that best rates are not always offered up front,” says mortgage broker Atrina Kouroshnia, 29, of Lavarates.ca in an email.

1. Putting every last cent into a downpayment Hold on just a second. Tempting as it is to pour all your savings into a home, it may not be the best idea with today’s crazy prices.

“For our parents, it was normal to take out a $200,000 to $300,000 mortgage, whereas now first-time home-buyers regularly borrow $700,000 to $800,000,” says Brandon Wasser, a 29-year-old agent with Royal LePage in Toronto.

Solution: Set aside some money. Mr. Wasser recommends socking 6 to 12 months of living expenses in an emergency fund.

2. Rushing to buy a condo, when you really want a house Millennials may be delaying children, but we still want a few eventually. Or at least a big dog. Unfortunately, both require space to run around and slobber, which means most of us see boxes in the sky as a mere stepping stone to a house.

But starting to ascend up that ladder may be riskier than staying put and continuing to save.

Solution: Mr. Wasser says don’t put a short-term investment ahead of long-term goals. “People a lot of times are looking for a deal, but in a hot market,” he says, “there are no deals.”

3. DIY property searching Mr. Wasser says Millennials often search on MLS, find a property they like, and contact the agent pictured. Oops!

That’s the listing agent, who works on behalf of the seller.

You end up telling him what you can afford and are willing to pay, which is information he’ll pass along to the seller — hurting you in negotiations.

Solution: You don’t have to stop searching MLS addictively under your duvet late at night, but hire a realtor first.

“That agent will now be in a relationship with you, where they have legal obligations to you.” Mr. Wasser says. “Everything you say to them is confidential.”

4. Conflating online calculations with reality Heartbreak for twentysomethings usually consists of a

flaky Tinder date. But Millennials won’t experience true heartbreak until they bid on a perfect place, only to have the offer fall through in financing. Don’t trust online calculators to tell you how much you can afford; they don’t account for things like your credit score, which can affect your mortgage rate.

Solution: “Go to a bank, go to a lender,” Mr. Wasser says.

“Find out what you will be approved for.” And check that credit score.

5. Thinking what a bank will lend you is what you can afford Until now you’ve had a cellphone bill, a hydro bill and some student loans. When you buy a property you may wrongly assume you’re only adding a single extra bill — the mortgage, to that list. “There are lots of costs that lenders don’t factor in when determining what you can comfortably afford,” Rob McLister, founder of RateSpy.com, writes in an email.

Solution: Mr. McLister says don’t focus on how much you’re able to borrow, but how much you should borrow.

Add up all your current living expenses, plus the extra expenses associated with home-ownership, then tack on at least 5% to 10% of your monthly income for savings. Circle that number in red, because that’s what you can afford.

6. Over-trusting your mortgage adviser As a young, inexperienced home buyer, you’re more likely to depend on what the professionals tell you — but never assume any mortgage professional knows best, is lending at the highest rates, or is giving you the most accurate information.

Solution: “As Ronald Reagan used to say, ‘Trust but verify’,” writes Mr. McLister. “Verify that their rates are competitive, that they have disclosed all potential downsides of the mortgage they’re recommending, that they gave you a competitive analysis on why their recommendation is optimal and that they are experienced in the industry,” he says.

7. Not considering rate risk Interest rates are like Canadian winters. A few good, warmer than average years, barely any snow, you think global warming’s working, and then boom! Polar vortex. “Too many new buyers see a tantalizing rate like 1.99% or 2.49% and forget that rates can jump, fast,” Mr. McLister says.

Solution: “Never get a mortgage without considering how your payments could change at renewal, or at Bank of Canada meetings if you have a variable mortgage,” he says.

to 3.29% (30 days quick close, Hi ratio only)

Price gap between new houses and condos hits $300K in Toronto

T

he gap between the price of new condos and the price of new homes is widening in Toronto, hitting close to $300,000 in February according to RealNet. RealNet figures show the average price of new detached home or townhouse was $733,578 in February, compared with $442,672 for a condo, a difference of $290,906.

And while the price of a new home is up 12 per cent from this time last year, the price of a new condo has inched up by just one per cent.

“It’s similar to the trend in Vancouver,” said Brendan Pyne, RealNet Canada business development manager.

“Toronto is 10 years behind Vancouver in terms of the difference in the housing market.”

There is a limited amount of new land for single-family dwellings, most of it in the 905 area, he said.

That’s forced developers to consider high-density development and thousands of new condos are under construction or coming onto the market this year.

“I would say the main factor driving the gap in the Greater Toronto Area is green land legislation that restricts the ability to grow outward,” Pyne said.

Vancouver ran into the same limits 10 years ago, he added.

There is intense demand for both new and resale single-family homes, so much so that Toronto real estate prices have continued climbing, even as real estate markets in other cities begin to slow.

The average home price for a detached resale house in the 416 area is now over $1 million and is up 8.8 per cent from a year ago.

The average price of a resale condo was much lower at $369,655, a slight decline from last year.

For young Toronto families that presents the possibility that they’ll never own a home with a backyard.

And while detached and semi-detached homes are out of reach financially, condos may not be big enough for couples with children. The average size of new condos is shrinking and currently stands at about 800 square feet, 125 square feet less than they were 10 years ago.

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real estate / finance

W

How to get the best possible mortgage rate

hen the Bank of Montreal and TD Bank dropped their special fiveyear fixed mortgage rates earlier this month, it drove Alyssa Furtado “crazy” to see how much attention they received.

Call it March Madness for the mortgage market, as banks begin a full-court press to lure in homebuyers as Canada heads into another vibrant spring for the country’s hottest housing spots.

The Bank of Montreal took an early lead, beating the competition with the lowest rate on a fixed fiveyear mortgage — ever.

The founder of RateHub.ca, a website that compares financial products, says homebuyers can do better if they shop around and do their homework.

BMO got the ball rolling by reducing its rate to 2.79% from 2.99% and TD quickly matched that.

And while it’s the lowest rate advertised among the big banks, it isn’t the lowest on the market, Furtado said.

“The banks do have such strong brands in Canada, so they are still a source that people go to look at the rates. So if you were only looking at banks’ websites, 2.79 would seem like a good deal,” she said.

“But if you were price comparing, including mortgage brokers, or you were going in and haggling and negotiating with your bank, you’d realize that the rates available were a lot lower.”

Many bank customers don’t realize they have negotiating power when it comes to

mortgages, said Penelope Graham, with RateSupermarket.ca, another comparison site.

In Canada, she said, “going with a lender is almost hereditary.

You bank with who your parents banked with. Banks know this. They want to retain your business and they do anything they can as well to make it as convenient as possible for you,” she said.

“Probably the most important thing that you can do before that process is to know what else is offered on the market and to know where you stand as a borrower. The better your credit score and your borrowing history is, the more leverage you are going to have.”

The ability to make a big down payment also works in your favour, Graham added.

“You don’t have to switch your bank to necessarily get a better rate, but it is in your best interest as a consumer to go in and say, ’Here’s where I am as a borrower. How can you make this better for me?”

Going through a mortgage broker is also a good way to scope out a better deal. Brokers have access to mortgages from multiple lenders. The mortgage-shopper doesn’t pay the broker, but rather the lenders do if a deal is done.

Sherry Jenkins, a consultant with broker Mortgage Intelligence, said she was surprised by the big bank rate drop announcements as 2.79% “has been in the market for some time” and she’s been seeing rates around 2.59%.

Saturday, March 28, 2015 i 3

4 i Saturday, March 28, 2015

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uto fans this year are being treated to some extremely exciting and great features at Vancouver International Auto Show 2015. For the first time in the Show’s 95 year history, the Auto Show has taken over all Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC) West meaning more displays and more fun for the fans.

The Auto Show began with a bang on March 25 with music, live entertainment and an exotic and supercar drive up.

The supercar drive up featured vehicles, worth over $15 million and were a truly stunning collection of super cars ranging from McLaren’s, Ferraris and Porsches. Many of the vehicles featured at the Auto show are priceless and extremely rare.

Other exciting features at the Vancouver International Auto Show include a Green Ride and Drive, a special vehicles section for the very first time featuring bigfoot monster trucks, the return of the Exotic Manufacturers, the Electric Avenue etc.

The exotic section of the Auto Show has always been a big hit with fans. They will get to see cars such as the Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Lotus, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, Bentley and McLaren. This collection highlights the amazing super cars from Vancouver, many of which are extremely rare and priceless!

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FOOD

Preparation time: 30 mins Cooking time: 45 mins Marinade mutton in spices overnight Ingredients Mutton: 1kg - Basmati rice: 500gm Cumin (jeera): 1 tsp - Whole garam masala: 2 tbsp Garam masala powder: 2 tsp Boiled egg for decoration (optional): 2 Rose water (optional): 1 tbsp Garlic-ginger paste: 2 tbsp Golden-fried sliced onions: 2 cups Mint leaves: 1 bunch - Curd: 2 cups Cashew nuts (optional): 50gm Turmeric powder: 1 pinch - Saffron: 1 pinch Coriander leaves: 1 bunch - Salt: As per taste Kashmiri red chilli powder: 1 tbsp - Oil: 5 tbsp Procedure: The Marinade -- Wash mutton (I prefer the raan or hind leg of a goat, for biryani). Pat dry and add garam masala, salt, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli paste, and two cups of curd.

Put it in a clean film pastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator to marinade overnight.

A

legend from the kitchens of the Nizam of Hyderabad, the kachche gosht ki biryani, also known as the Hyderabadi mutton biryani or is a spicey, fragrant and colourful variant of biryani in India. The traditional style of making the biryani by cooking the raw meat with spices for couple of minutes and then covered with rice and kept on dum until done.

Directions: -First boil the water, add oil, salt and half-cook the rice.

-Next fry thinly sliced onions until golden brown. Add 1/3 of the golden-brown onion to the mutton marination and rest keep aside.

-Now in a handi (deep pan) add the marinated mutton in the bottom and top it of with half cooked rice, add mint leaves, coriander leaves and top it up fried onions. In a separate bowl, add some warm milk to soak saffron. Once the milk soaks the colour of the saffron, add it to the handi.

-Cover the handi or pan with a airtight lid or add sticky dough to the edges and cover it with a lid. Cook for 45 min.

-Add rose water and garnish with sliced boiled eggs.

-Serve hot with raita and mirchi ka salan.

Saturday, March 28, 2015 i 7

8 i Saturday, March 28, 2015

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