In this section of my site you'll find my Edmonton Realty Report. Filled with market data and news from the Edmonton area, this report will give you lots of excellent information!

Edmonton Realty Report, September 20, 2011 - House Mortgage Interest Rates Can Be Confusing

Sometimes there seems to be no rhyme or reason as far as what the Canada Revenue Agency allows as deductions. One of the most mystifying of deductions is interest costs, just exactly when and how they are allowed. These types of deductions cause more confusion, and headaches, to taxpayers than just about anything else.

Basically, if you own one home and are paying off a mortgage on that home, you are paying interest. But, since that is your principle residence, that interest is not deductable. If you happen to go out and buy a second property to use as a rental, meaning that you are doing it to generate income, then the interest on that mortgage is deductable.

But what happens if down the road you decide to make the rental home your principle residence? And, you decide to borrow money against your original principle residence to pay off the mortgage on your new principle residence. Is that interest on the loan against the original property deductable?

As it happens, the answer is no. According to Canada Revenue, it is not where the money came from; it is what that money was used for that determines if interest is deductable. Since you paid off the mortgage on what was the rental, with money that was borrowed from the original principle residence, you are out of luck, because the money is not, as far as the taxman is concerned, being used to generate income.

Edmonton Realty Report, August 29, 2011 - Home Prices In Edmonton Expected to Increase in 2012

Home prices in Edmonton saw little change between 2010 and 2011. But, the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation is expecting that to change in 2012. In 2010 the average home price in an MLS listing was $328,803. That figure is expected to go to $329,000 by this year’s end. In 2012, prices are expected to increase 2.4 percent, making the average home price in Metro Edmonton $337,000.

The first half of 2011 was definitely a buyer’s market, which causes prices to stay the same. But starting in July there have been signs that the real estate market is starting to become more balanced. The economy is improving, more people are moving into Edmonton and those people need somewhere to live. More people means increased demand and stronger prices.

The CMHS showed 16,403 MLS sales in 2010, and likewise predicts 2011 to have 16,500 sales by year end. But in 2012, that same agency is predicting that 17,200 homes will change hands, a 4.2 percent increase.

Housing starts in 2010 numbered 9,959. By the end of 2011 there are expected to be 8,950 starts, a ten percent drop. But, again, 2012 will see a reversal, with 9,900 starts by the end of that year. By 2012, the number of resale homes currently on the market will have been depleted enough to warrant building more homes.

Edmonton Realty Report, August 20, 2011 - CREA Expects More Home Sales Due to Still Low Mortgage Rates

The Canadian Real Estate Association had already predicted that housing sales would slow during the last part of 2011. They are now reversing that prediction. Instead, they forecast a one percent increase in sales, rather than a one percent decline by the end of the year. Some 450,000 homes are expected to change hands.

Vancouver is still playing a big part in the pricing structure of homes across the nation. CREA expects the average sales price in Canada to go up 7.2 percent by the end of the year, bringing some $363,500 per home. CREA is also adjusting its prediction for 2012. They are expecting prices to be flat and sales to be down less than a percentage point.

Gary Morse, the firm’s president, attributes the change to the fact that mortgage rates did not go up as expected. Instead they have gone down and are expected to stay that way until the end of next year. True enough, at the end of July 2011, housing prices did go down to $361,181 average per home, which is the lowest price point since January. But that figure is still 9.3 percent higher than in July of 2010.

CREA believes the low prices in the first part of 2010 were the result of the newly initiated HRT tax within the Ontario and British Columbia real estate markets and tougher mortgage rules implemented in the early spring.

Edmonton Realty Report, August 10, 2011 - Alberta Has a Positive Outlook on the Economy

Despite the wild rollercoaster ride in the international stock market this past week; Albertans are still optimistic about the future. The turmoil in the United States over what was normally a routine increase in the debt ceiling resulted in a Wall Street stock plunge reminiscent of that in 2008. That started the rumors of another recession.

But Alberta apparently isn’t paying much attention to those rumors. A report issued by Statistics Canada showed that the unemployment rate went down to 5.5 percent because of the addition of 12,400 new jobs. Only Saskatchewan showed better numbers. Another high point was the announcement of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses. Their July figures showed that the confidence level of small and medium sized business entrepreneurs increased by two percentage points nation wide. Alberta had the highest scores.

In fact, it seems the province’s biggest concern is a possible labour shortage. Some 59 percent of business leaders surveyed believe that shortage will have some effect on their business. Employers are actively looking for quality people to fill existing positions and they are proving hard to find. An example is Amico Stone Supply Limited, which only opened its doors last August has seen their business volume double within a year. They supply natural stone building products to the construction trade, and like similar firms, are looking to add staff to keep up with the volume.

Douglas Porter, who is an economist with BMO Capital Markets, advises that it is too early to predict what the stock market plunge will do to the Canadian economy. But for now the outlook in Alberta is good. Economic growth is expected to increase by some three percent by the end of 2011.

Archives

May 24, 2011 - Alberta Companies Going on the Road to Recruit Employees

May 11, 2011 - Industrial Real Estate is Edmonton’s Strength

May 3, 2011 - Survey Shows Canadian Home Buyers Are Fairly Conservative

April 27,2011 - Residents of Penhorwood Place Condos Evicted at Midnight

April 15, 2011 - Real Estate Market Feels Brunt of Edmonton’s Rough Winter

March 30, 2011 - Can Canadians Have a Tax Deductible Mortgage?

March 24, 2011 - Energy Saving Retrofit Program Reinstated in Alberta