In March Canadian New Housing Price Index was left unchanged, following a 0.4% increase in February. According
to Statistics Canada, there were certain monthly hikes in some of the
cities, but they were offset by declines in others. So in the end the
national index hasn’t changed. During the February-March period the largest increases were noted in Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, N.B. (0.4%).
Toronto, Oshawa, Winnipeg and Regina has also shown price index increases up to 0,3%. The most notable monthly price declines were recorded in Quebec City (0.7%), Windsor (0.6%) and Edmonton (0.2%). As compared to the previous year’s results, the index was up 1.9% in March. In February there was a slightly larger hike of 2.1%.
Recently a new spring consumer report by Canadian Association of
Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) was released. It concerns the
stability in the Canadian mortgage market. Here are some of the main report’s items: • Today there are $855 billion in mortgages on primary residences and $215 billion in Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC). • On average, HELOC borrowers have about 65% equity in their houses.
• HELOC is more popular among middle age homeowners. • From $26 billion of annual equity take outs $9.4 billion were used for renovations and $5.0 billion for different investments. • During the previous 12 months the average mortgage down payment was 30%.
According to Zillow Inc. recent real estate report, in the first
quarter of 2011 the U.S. home values fell at the fastest pace since
late 2008. The report also says we might see bottom only in 2012. It
turned out the number of homeowners whose mortgage debts age larger
than the houses’ current prices is also very high - 28.4%. The last
quarter of 2010 showed a bit lower results – 27%.
Foreclosures also went up: in March one out of every 1,000 houses was in foreclosure.
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