This week CBC 60 minute reporting about "Mortgage: Walking away"

----------"It's estimated that one million Americans walked away from homes "underwater" or worth less than their mortgages even though they could afford the payments. Morley Safer reports on this trend, called strategic default that threatens the economic recovery. "------------

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6470184n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel


In free market capitalism only uncompetitive businesses and people loose their shirt but in government run (soft socialism) market everybody looses their shirt even encourage the people to do wrong things.

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This is the result of govt intervention in free market and popping the asset price by low interest rates, longer amortization period, no/little down payment, govt/taxpayers co-signing 90% mortgages (CMHC, Freddie/Fannie), home buyer credit. Can we see our future?

Hi,
This long dicourse was very helpful... at least for me. i hope it has answered all the questions of the person who posted the query about what sort of mortage he should take etc...Friends, we all have a right to our own opinions, we all think according to what is comfortable for us within our belief systems.. we all listen to everyone but ultimately make our own choices and decesions. To buy a house is also good and not to buy one and to stay in a rented apartment or a smaller home is also good.. depends how one approaches life and what one wants in the end...

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Mehra

Inventory and household debt?

Calgary: rising inventory very fast
There's now well over 11,000 metro Calgary homes listed for sale on the Calgary MLS

Vancouver: Double inventory (17,000)
Doubling of number of units for sale since the beginning of the year. started off 2010 with 8724 units for sale, which means 17,448 is the magic number. The Vancouver West Side has the biggest – they’re already close to 150% of the number of listings from January 1st.


How is GTA doing in inventory?

Canadians top Greeks in household debt

http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/economy/story.html?id=3013137

When household indebtedness is measured as a ratio of consumer debt to financial assets, it becomes clear that Canadian households rely much more heavily on consumer credit than their counterparts in other countries," the report explained. Canadians' debt-to-income ratio reached 144% by the end of 2009.

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How come we have more personal debt than USA?

Creative idea - iBidBroker

Property website aims to cut costs, boost choice for home sellers

http://www.torontosun.com/money/2010/05/11/13908296.html

April home sales inch downward

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/april-home-sales-inch-downward/article1571202/

The Canadian Real Estate Association said 99,901 homes were put up for sale in April, a new monthly record. Many homeowners are hoping to sell at what some suggest may be the market's peak, as higher mortgage rates and rising prices discourage buyers from entering the market.

The number of homes being listed has dampened the market somewhat, however, as buyers have more choice and can take their time before making a purchase. Seasonally adjusted national home sales slipped 2.6 per cent from March, and are now 6.8 per cent lower than they were in December.


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http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/05/email-from-canada-its-different-up-here.html?source=patrick.net

Canadian banks can and do directly pass every garbage loan to the Canadian Central Bank. In the US, Fannie and Freddie (in spite of their numerous faults), were actually among the more sane players in avoiding subprime slime.

The worst of the trash in the US went to hedge funds, pension plans, foreign investors, etc.

Canada's policy avoided the bank failures we saw in the US, but at the expense of bloating the central bank balance sheet with garbage. That policy will work until it doesn't.

Now, I have you telling me it's different in Canada. You sound just like the clowns who thought it was different in Florida, it was different in Las Vegas, it was different in San Diego, and it was different in Portland.

Well I have news for you. It was not different in any of those places and it is not different in Canada either.

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Western Canada is flooding. How's Inventory in GTA?

http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Lawyers+jump+into+listing+battle/3036290/story.html

Mr. Forcier's group is now working with an agent with the Ottawa Real Estate Board who, for $109, will take the listings his group gets and upload them to the national site mls.caor realtor.ca."You don't want to talk to a Realtor who will charge you 5%, you don't want to deal with the FSBOs [for-sale-by-owner sites] who are not licensed, so you deal with a lawyer. We've been involved with deals since Confederation. We understand deals and we know how to negotiate deals," Mr. Forcier said.

Consumers using his site would get access to a lawyer from the beginning to the end of a transaction and would get legal advice on areas such as disclosure rules and zoning bylaws.

Ontario lawyers are allowed to trade real estate under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act.

"We do private deals all the time. This just means we have to organize it a bit," said Mr. Forcier, who has managed only about 20 to 25 listings on his site, which is linked to 61 lawyers operating in Ontario. British Columbia lawyers are organizing a similar system in their province.
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How's GTA inventory doing?
We have Open house parade in our neighborhood 8 open house in a day.

Hi,
As there are lot of variables to purchase a house, you need to seat down and come up with your requirement list.
Once you know what you are looking for, then it is a piece of cake to purchase a house.
Let me know if you like to have more info on home purchase.

What's the hurry when RE is all set to go in one direction.

Q is how fast? How RE inventory is doing in GTA?

http://www.bobtruman.com/blogs/bob_truman/archive/2010/05/26/lowest-sales-this-millenium.aspx

Calgary - We're on schedule to have the lowest number of May single family home sales since the beginning of the new millenium. For the period May 1 - 25, there are 1033 sales. The next closest was 2008 with 1056. The highest was 2006 with 1627.

Quote:

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Originally posted by thekey
As there are lot of variables to purchase a house, you need to seat down and come up with your requirement list.
Once you know what you are looking for, then it is a piece of cake to purchase a house.
Let me know if you like to have more info on home purchase.

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