19 Jun

State of Emergency being lifted June 23rd

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

The state of emergency is being lifted end of day on June 23rd and I am curious how the market will react

I’ve spoke with several clients who feel the need to put in an offer on a property before this date, and then other clients waiting until after this date because they feel there will be more inventory coming on-line.

What do you think?

The state of emergency has made it virtually impossible to evict renters – even if they can’t make their rent payments.

I am curious to see how many home-owners wanting to sell were affected by the emergency rules, and how the market reacts on 24th.

Will we see a noticeable uptick in properties for sale throughout July and August, or will the market remain unchanged?

I welcome your thoughts on this matter, and look forward to the immediate future!

 

9 Jun

CMHC Lending Changes, Will the Other Insurers Follow?

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

As I’m sure you’ve heard, CMHC is changing their lending guidelines on high-ratio mortgages as of July 1st. These changes will have a significant impact on homebuyers wishing to use CMHC’s high-ratio mortgage product. Thankfully the other insurers stated they have no intentions on aligning their high-ratio mortgage products with CMHC’s guidelines.

Canada has 3 mortgage default insurers: CMHC, Canada Guaranty and Genworth. 

Genworth and Canada Guaranty released yesterday, June 8, they have no desire to follow CMHC’s stricter guidelines, and will continue providing mortgage insurance based on the current guidelines. This is excellent news for Canada’s real estate industry.

As of lately, CMHC is predicting doom & gloom of Canada’s Post-Covid real estate market, with extreme predictions of home prices decreasing up to 20%. These predictions coupled with CMHC’s lending guidelines creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Thankfully, this is the first time the other mortgage insurers are deciding to disregard CMHC’s changes. This is great news for potential homebuyers and sellers, and should bring some confidence back to the market.

If you have any financing questions you would like to discuss please reach out to me @ 778-215-4121 | adamsale@dominionlending.ca

Warm regards,

4 Jun

Foreign Buyers Tax Strategy & Exemption

General

Posted by: Adam Sale

Did you know many non-residents are actually exempt from the foreign buyers’ tax? That’s right!

Non-residents who’ve applied for their permanent residency through the BC Provincial Nominee Program and have received confirmation, are exempt from paying the foreign buyers tax.

This is a one-time exemption, and the property must be used as a principal residence.

The BC Provincial Nominee Program is a popular way for non-residents to receive their permanent residency. Under this program there are 3 different entry options: Express Entry BC, Skills Immigration and Entrepreneur Immigration.

Foreign Buyer’s Tax Minimization Strategy

Married/common-law couples in which only one partner has their Permanent Residency may be able to minimize the amount of foreign-buyers tax charged on their purchase based on how they decide to their names registered on the property’s title.

New home-owners can request to register 99% of the property’s title in the partners name who has their Permanent Residency, and the remaining 1% in the non-resident spouse’s name.

This will subject only 1% of the property’s purchase price to the foreign buyers’ tax, and could end up saving them thousands!!

If the non-resident spouse then gets their PR within 1-year of home ownership they may qualify for a full refund of the tax.

If you have any financing questions you would like to discuss please reach out to me @ 778-215-4121 | adamsale@dominionlending.ca

Warm regards,