Mortgage rates are expected to remain within 25 to 75 basis points of their current level for the remainder of 2009, according to CMHC’s second quarter Housing Market Outlook, keeping them “very low in a historical context.”

“Movements in mortgage rates are difficult to predict due to volatile economic conditions,” the report stated.

“Nevertheless, rates are expected to remain steady this year and edge higher in 2010.”

Along with mortgage rates, CMHC listed employment, net migration and low birth rate as having key effects on residential construction, and forecast housing starts to decline to 141,900 in 2009 (most notably in Alberta and Saskatchewan) before rebounding to 150,300 in 2010.

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Intensification, rent control changes and shortage of stock give rise to new projects

It’s hard to imagine a more challenging time for business and markets than the past half year.

With consumers running for cover and the international banking system imploding, what were developers and builders to do?

If you were Brian McCauley, executive vice-president of Vancouver-based Concert Properties, you were negotiating a deal with Diamante Development Corp. worth close to $20 million to acquire a condo site with approvals in place at Bay and Dundas Sts. His company will build the 26-storey, 448-unit project as a high-end rental.

“From a global perspective, Toronto is still a very strong marketplace in spite of the current softening that we’ve all experienced across Canada,” McCauley comments.

It also must be encouraging that Toronto’s apartment vacancy rate is at a seven-year low of 2 per cent, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. data, while vacancy rates for the subcategory of rented condos, representing newer apartment stock with substantially higher rents, is a microscopic 0.4 per cent, with rents almost 50 per cent higher than those in aging rental buildings.

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Just yesterday, I had the pleasure of helping a wonderful family from Montreal buy an outstanding house in the Dorset Park section of Milton. The house is on one of the big lots in town – 52′ x 153′ – and has been done over to the 9′s, or more accurately, to the 10′s! I am very partial to this model of house, and was thrilled to see what can be done to open up this particular style of side-split. I, very seriously, told my clients that I was very glad my wife hadn’t seen the house, or we’d have been moving, and I am happy where we are.

What got me about this house was that it sold for a price about $65,000 lower than I think it could have sold for 18 months ago. On the price of the home, that is a saving of around 18%. That is phenomenal! My clients were fortunate, because we were in a multiple-offer situation, and they are ecstatic, because this house is everything they want in a home for their extended family.

As I think about this purchase, and as I do research for some other clients today, I realize that the market really has turned. Not in the $350,000 + range, but in the lower price ranges. I just checked the MLS, and there are only 2 freehold homes with 3 bedrooms under $260,000. That is a huge contrast to January this year, when there were 23 homes that fit that criteria.

Folks, whether you are first-time buyers, or you are investors whose criteria is newer freehold townhouses, you need to get into the market now! The sale is rapidly coming to an end; don’t be one of the people standing there, wishing they had taken action. Take action TODAY! Call me at 905-208-7002.

Another installment from Keller Williams Research . . .

Note that the 5.25% rate they refer to is the posted rate; available rates are around 3.5%

Don’t know about the spelling, but that’s the name of a song that was featured in the movie ‘Walk The Line’.

Folks, time’s-a-wastin’ on the opportunities in this market! A few months back, I wrote about how this market is a limited opportunity, sort of like the sales that car dealers have – limited opportunities. We are still in a ‘Perfect Storm’ of a real estate market, a never-before-seen convergence of reduced prices, lower rates than in history, and when it costs more to rent than to buy. It won’t last; it can’t, because as more and more sellers see the activity in the market, then more and more buyers will wake up and smell the roses, and then we’ll be in serious bidding wars again.

You just have to follow the conversations on FaceBook and Twitter, Active Rain and a few other places where Realtors gather, to get the picture of what is happening in the Canadian real estate markets. Scroll down a few posts and look at the charts in ‘This Month In Real Estate Canada’ and you’ll see what is happening.

Here’s a snip from a great post on http://Active Rain.com :

My little sister called me the other day and in an excited voice declared, “I think I might need to look at houses…It’s a GREAT time to buy a house right now, you know!”

After the pregnant pause ensued (the one where my condescending big sister brain struggled with my professional Realtor brain) I finally said, “No? Really? What makes you think that?” (You can tell which brain won out.)

“Well. I have a friend who just got a fantastic deal on a house and I think it might be time for me to think about looking!”

Ok, so which part of what I have been saying for months now did she mis

s? Apparently, the same part that ALOT of buyers are missing…that would be the part that sounds just like Charlie Brown’s teacher talking whenever somebody you aren’t listening to tells you something: Wah, wah, wah, wah…

Read the rest here

I’ve written before about the sort of herd mentality that surrounds buyers – when not a lot of people are buying houses, buyers seem to think the prudent thing to do is wait, because, after all, if it was a great time to buy, wouldn’t everyone be buying? Well, when everyone else is buying, prices go up, bidding wars ensue, and all the buyers lose. If that sort of buying is your preferred style, then I’ll be more than happy to help you. But if getting a great house at a lower price and at historically low interest rates is something that appeals to you, call me TODAY and let’s see if you can get in on this before it’s too late.

I know that a lot of people are worried about their jobs, but it costs less to buy than to rent, so unless you plan on living in your car when you lose your job, that’s really not a reason to wait.

The prize goes to those who take action. The action you need to take is to call me today at 905-208-7002