Impact of Federal Budget on Real Estate

Here are the key highlights from this week's Canadian Federal Budget that touch on the world of Real Estate...

Homebuyers’ Plan
•The federal budget proposes to increase the withdrawal limit for first-time homebuyers using the Homebuyers Plan from $20,000 to $25,000 (per individual).

•Under this program, first-time homebuyers are allowed to withdraw funds from their RRSP, tax-free, to put towards the down payment on a home. Amounts withdrawn under the HBP must be repaid over a 15-year period, starting the second year following the year of the withdrawal.

•Since 1992, an estimated 2 million Canadians have used the Home Buyers’ Plan to purchase approximately 900,000 homes, making this program a huge success. Unfortunately, as time has passed, the usefulness of this program eroded because withdrawal limits were not adjusted. For this reason, REALTORS® lobbied the federal government to increase the Home Buyers’ Plan withdrawal limit to $25,000.


First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit
•The Budget proposes a 15 per cent credit that would be applied to a $5,000 amount, and would provide up to $750 in tax relief to reduce costs associated with first home purchases.
•To assist first-time home buyers with the costs related to the purchase of a home such as legal fees, land transfer taxes, etc.

Home Renovation Tax Credit
•The Budget proposes a 15 per cent credit to be claimed on the portion of eligible home renovation expenditures exceeding $1,000, but not more than $10,000, meaning that the maximum tax credit that can be received is $1,350.
•Will apply to eligible home renovation expenditures for work performed, or goods acquired, after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2010, pursuant to agreements entered into after January 27, 2009.
•Credit can be claimed on eligible expenditures incurred on one or more of an individual’s eligible dwellings, including houses, cottages, and condominium units owned for personal use.

Ralph Evans - Agent Profile

This agent profile piece will appear in tomorrow's edition of the Etobicoke Guardian...

(click picture to increas size)



Ralph

New Listing - 30 Burlingame Rd Toronto

Just listed today...

30 Burlingame Road, Toronto

Enjoy The Sun Pouring In! This Spacious 3 Bedroom Home Is In Top Ready-To-Move-In Condition. Strip Hardwood Floors Have Been Refinished. Situated On A Quiet Street Near Browns Line & Horner Ave This Home Provides Easy Access To Schools And Parks. Close To Sherway Gardens, Cloverdale, H-427 & Q-E-W. Easy Access To Downtown/ Or Airport. New Furnace(2008), Stove(2009), Roof(2000), 100-Amp Electrical Service. Pre-Listing Home Inspection Report Available.

Includes: Fridge, Stove, Washer, Freezer, All Light Fixtures And Window Coverings. Recently Painted. Detached Single Garage Plus An Extra-Long Driveway With Space To Park Up To 6 More Vehicles.

See Virtual Tour

Available through
Ralph Evans
Sales Representative
RE/MAX Professionals Inc., Brokerage

Office 416 236-1241
Direct 416 577-5486
My website the RE/MAX RealEstateHelpDesk

Toronto Real Estate Prices for December 2008

Here is my monthly Toronto real estate statistics review for the month of December 2008. The level of activity, or volume of sales was very low for the month of December. This is not really very surprising. Consumer confidence in the whole economy is down and people are holding-off making major purchases, with a home being the most major of them all! At the same time, December is traditionally the slowest month of the year for real estate sales. However, this year was still significantly below the level of last year.

On the pricing side, the average prices across the GTA declined by 1.9% from the month before. This is always a tricky number to nail down, given the fluctuations in the price ranges of homes being sold. More or less high-end homes can really skew this number. However a 1.9% price decline is probably fairly accurate read on the market place. This also puts us 9.2% below the market peak of May 2008.

So what does all this mean? Well we are firmly into a buyer's market. This is the time to be buying. There are lots of homes on the market to choose from, less competition from other buyers, more motivated sellers, great prices, super-low interest rates and a keen willingness from the banks to extend mortgages to people with jobs. For home sellers, there are good opportunities to sell a home so long as it is in the best condition and priced to the market. We are not seeing the multiple offer frenzy of a couple of years ago. Now any offer not matter how low is appreciated by home sellers.

Here is my monthly chart...



Be sure to check out my previous post, the 2008 annual review too!

Buying, selling investing - Ralph is here to help!
www.RealEstateHelpDesk.ca
Call me at 416 577-5486 or contact me at ralph@RealEstateHelpDesk.ca

2008 Toronto Real Estate Annual Statistics

The numbers are in for 2008. Here is a look at the really big picture! There were 74,552 home/condo sales in all of 2008 across the Greater Toronto area, as recorded by the Toronto Real Estate Board. This level of activity is well down from the volume of the prior couple of years. The average price over the whole year was $379,347 compared to the 2007 average of $376,236 - that's an increase of about 0.8%.

Here is a chart to put it all in perspective...