Preferred Client UPDATE Working Hard to Keep You Informed No. 5 2015 Dear Valued Client, Spring Mortgage & Real Estate Outlook Heather Manna Jacki Harris Managing Partners & Mortgage Brokers Keep Calm and Mortgage On 403.401.5040 [email protected] [email protected] www.millenniummortgagegroup.com It may not feel like spring yet in some parts of the country, but the latest volleys in the mortgage rate war are a sure sign that “Real Estate Season” is in full bloom. Some smaller lenders and charter Banks are promoting record low rates, but they may come with conditions that make them restrictive for borrowers. Watch this carefully if yourself or any friend or family member are looking to purchase or refinance. Restrictive mortgages can disable certain privileges such as pre-payment capability, transfer and portability, higher penalties, or bonafide sale clauses. Make sure to ask for all of the details upfront on your financing approval to ensure that you have the full picture. As always, we are happy to help and always available for a second opinion. Aside from the interest rate wars, The housing industry seems to be anticipating some pent-up demand. Housing starts for March climbed. Urban and Inner City multifamily housing led the way with a 48.2% jump. None the less, the forward looking building permit requests and numbers are positive. Despite a slight, overall decline in February, residential permits saw a 1.5% increase powered by a 20.7% surge in multi-family permits. The numbers were dragged down by the non-residential component in central Canada led by Quebec, however in general the Alberta and Calgary housing market is in Hot demand and in full swing to start off Spring. Important Changes coming our way! 00001 Effective July 1st 2015 the Alberta Government has input a new motion to increase land title registration fees. This means that anyone buying (or refinancing) with a possession of July 1st or after, will have to pay higher closing costs, which equate to about an extra $1000.00 of fees. This is in addition to existing legal expenses and closing costs. As well, CMHC (Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp) and Genworth Financial have announced that mortgage insurance premiums are increasing as of June 01st for anyone buying with less then 10% down payment. The percentage increase is from 3.15% to 3.60%. This is the second such move in two years, as the mortgage insurers hiked its premiums from 2.75 per cent to 3.15 per cent last year in 2014. So to recap, If you purchase prior to June 1st 2015 and your mortgage application has been submitted and approved prior to then, you would not be effected by the Mortgage Insurance premium increase. Secondly, if you purchase and take possession prior to July 1st 2015 you also avoid the fee increase to the legal land title registration changes. If you are in the market to purchase or even refinance, make those decisions fairly quickly to avoid having to dip further into your pockets and save yourself some money! Heather and Jacki 113, 1013 17th Ave. SW Calgary, AB T2T 0A7 Did you know... The ﬂoors of buildings are Heather & Jacki’s Preferred Client Update called storeys because early European builders used to paint picture stories on the 16511-0001 HEATHER MANNA & JACKI HARRIS MILLENNIUM MORTGAGE GROUP 113 - 1013 17 AVENUE SW CALGARY T2T 0A7 Preferred Client Update • Working Hard to Keep You Informed sides of their houses. Each ﬂoor had a different story. Page 1