http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W132taxpk7o&feature=related

Watch Foreclosure Alley on YouTube to learn what a foreclosure actually looks like. I can not imagine that such nice houses are going to waste like this.

This should not happen to anybody, anywhere. It made my hair stand up on its end.

Oh yes we are different and not fool like our neighbor. Our housing market can not go bad like US then why govt. is buying this crap (C$25 Billion in Mortgages) on taxpayers money.

Q: Are we different and can not price match to our neighbor in RE even after we pay more for everything (gas, car, food, taxes)?


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Canada Agrees to Buy C$25 Billion in Mortgages


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aIGh0fJ9UYTE&refer=canada

The Canadian government moved to shore up the nation's banks by taking on some of their mortgages in a bid to ease higher borrowing costs that have crippled lending. Toronto-Dominion Bank responded by cutting its prime rate.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., a government-run agency, will buy as much as C$25 billion ($21.6 billion) in mortgages from the banks, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said today in Ottawa. The lenders will get cash, giving them more money to lend to consumers and businesses.......

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Lending crunch hits consumers
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/515264

Toronto mortgage broker Ranjit Dhaliwal says credit is "most definitely" tightening in Canada, noting that he's turning down many prospective home buyers because they don't qualify for a mortgage. On top of that, defaults are also skyrocketing.

"People were always able to turn to private lenders when the banks turned them down. But as a private lender, I've pulled back and a lot of others are, too.

"Basically nobody wants to lend and if they are, they're charging much higher rates (above the prime rate), which makes it unaffordable for more people," he explained.

He said he has seen a 50 per cent increase in defaults in the last three months in his business, adding that he has personally worked recently with people who were forced to sell their homes or file for bankruptcy in the current troubled economic climate.

"Before, they could get their property refinanced, but housing prices are going down so that's not an option for them," he said.

Ottawa takes $25B in mortgages off banks' books - but don't call it a bailout


The federal government is buying up $25 billion in residential mortgages to give Canada's chartered banks more cash for loans, but the effort shouldn't be considered a bailout similar to the U.S. government lifeline for Wall Street banks, the federal government and industry watchers said Friday.

"It's a huge stretch to look at it as a bailout - it's a helping hand," said Brad Smith, a banking analyst at Blackmont Capital, a Toronto brokerage.

http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/10102008/2/biz-finance-ottawa-takes-25b-mortgages-banks-books-don-t.html

Cheers!

Will new MLS site hurt or help Realtors and buyers?

Due to the recent changes on the MLS.ca website, I'm no longer able to closely track housing inventory numbers as I have in the past. I can not select one or more than one region/zone for narrowing my selection. How the heck google map does help someone who is local to the city for looking housing inventory?

Thanks to this realtor site which is still keeping old selection criteria.

http://www.realtyexecutivesapex.com/search_mls_map_form1.php

Help Realtor??: Realtor.ca site is really bad..if not totally useless where as realtors may feel that’s good and expecting more business as potential buyers can no longer easily browse on-line.

Calgary:

There are 12,848 houses for sale on the mls plus thousands of de-listed Calgary listings here and thousands more Calgary homes for sale private.

Quote:

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Originally posted by rahul_singh23

Oh yes we are different and not fool like our neighbor. Our housing market can not go bad like US then why govt. is buying this crap (C$25 Billion in Mortgages) on taxpayers money.

Q: Are we different and can not price match to our neighbor in RE even after we pay more for everything (gas, car, food, taxes)?


-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Canada Agrees to Buy C$25 Billion in Mortgages


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aIGh0fJ9UYTE&refer=canada

The Canadian government moved to shore up the nation's banks by taking on some of their mortgages in a bid to ease higher borrowing costs that have crippled lending. Toronto-Dominion Bank responded by cutting its prime rate.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., a government-run agency, will buy as much as C$25 billion ($21.6 billion) in mortgages from the banks, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said today in Ottawa. The lenders will get cash, giving them more money to lend to consumers and businesses.......

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lending crunch hits consumers
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/515264

Toronto mortgage broker Ranjit Dhaliwal says credit is "most definitely" tightening in Canada, noting that he's turning down many prospective home buyers because they don't qualify for a mortgage. On top of that, defaults are also skyrocketing.

"People were always able to turn to private lenders when the banks turned them down. But as a private lender, I've pulled back and a lot of others are, too.

"Basically nobody wants to lend and if they are, they're charging much higher rates (above the prime rate), which makes it unaffordable for more people," he explained.

He said he has seen a 50 per cent increase in defaults in the last three months in his business, adding that he has personally worked recently with people who were forced to sell their homes or file for bankruptcy in the current troubled economic climate.

"Before, they could get their property refinanced, but housing prices are going down so that's not an option for them," he said.

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bigger houses sold faster than smaller in Markham, I noticed personally. Two car garage houses are also in bigger demand and selling faster in at least my neighborhood. So now worries at least in Markham Ontario

Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. I like that quote.

Fall in house prices broadens, deepens

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/518213

....Canadian resale home prices continued to slide last month, with the average home 6.2 per cent cheaper than it was last year.
The average price was $315,461 in September, compared with $336,321 a year ago, according to figures released yesterday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.......


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Housing sector shaking out from financial crisis

http://www.businessedge.ca/article.cfm/newsID/18803.cfm

"Right now, we are in that state of flux where people are figuring out what this new market means to them. The sellers are still trying to figure it out and realize that what they thought they were going to get they aren't going to get, and the buyers are really cocky," he said. "Once the market has changed, everyone is realistic, including the buyers, sellers and agents."

Reid said homes are sitting on the market for months, when they used to be snapped up in days. He said dropping prices doesn't help because many buyers are waiting to see how low the market might go.

Merrill Lynch Canada said recently it believes Canada's housing slowdown could be as severe the U.S. meltdown that spawned the current crisis.

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Q: How do you predict market in next 6 months specially after Oct 15?