Follow us on Instagram! @TeamRinaDiRisio

NEW FEDERAL MORTGAGE RULES CAME INTO EFFECT YESTERDAY, OCT 17, 2016

In an effort to slow down Canada’s ultra-hot housing market, the federal government has put into effect new mortgage rules. What do these new rules really mean for those looking to buy or sell real estate? Let’s have a look.

The first change affects foreign home buyers. Foreign buyers who purchase Canadian property, but are not residents of Canada at the time of the purchase, will no longer be able to claim a “principal residence exemption” as a tax loophole to avoid paying capital gains once their home increases in value and is eventually sold.

The second change involves a mortgage repayment stress test at Bank of Canada’s posted rate of 4.64% for all insured mortgage applications. The banks will assess whether the borrower will be capable of repaying their loan should interest rates increase or the borrower’s financial situation changes. In other words, if a purchaser does not have a 20% down-payment for their home, that homebuyer will have to prove that they can continue to make their mortgage payments at a higher interest rate.

These changes will inevitably cut into the purchasing power of some buyers – particularly first-time homebuyers. However, according to Canada’s Finance Minister, Bill Morneau, these new rules will “not affect Canadians with existing mortgages“.

Click here

to read more about how the new mortgage rules will affect foreign buyers and first-time homebuyers.

We continue to see unprecedented price growth in Oakville’s real estate market. According to last month’s statistics released by the Oakville, Milton & District Real Estate board, the median sale price of a home in Oakville was $980,000 in September 2016. To compare, in September 2015, the median sale price of an Oakville home was $720,000 – that’s a 36.11% increase!

We attribute this incredible increase in resale home prices to a high demand for real estate in the GTA, limited inventory, ultra-low interest rates, and excellent consumer confidence.

As outlined in this Financial Post article, experts do not expect a market collapse. Rather, they believe that “Canada’s housing market will slow down without any hard landing”. In other words, while price growth may slow down, home prices are expected to remain stable. Read more about it here.

We attribute this incredible increase in resale home prices to a high demand for real estate in the GTA, limited inventory, ultra-low interest rates, and excellent consumer confidence.

High ceilings make the smallest of spaces feel lofty and airy; it’s not a surprise that buyers are drawn to this particular home feature. 9’ ceilings have become the standard in new builds, with 10’ ceilings becoming a more common structural upgrade for buyers.

When selling your home, there is a lot you can do to create the illusion of height. We highly recommend appropriating some of the ideas from this Contemporist article to create that sense of freedom and spaciousness that buyers crave.

Here are 2 of our favourite tips that are also super easy to achieve:

1. High Curtain Rods & Tall CurtainsRooms with curtain rods installed closer to the ceiling rather than near the frame of the window draw your eye upwards. This, along with installing curtains that extend from the floor to the ceiling, creates the illusion of larger windows and adds a sense of vertical grandeur to any room.
2. Low-Contrast Wall & Ceiling PaintAnother simple tip is to keep the wall colours similar to the colour of the ceiling. Dark walls create harsh horizontal lines where the walls meet the ceiling. This makes rooms appear smaller than they are. Instead, opt for lighter paint that is in lower contrast with the colour of your ceiling. In this case, the wall colour will blend right into the ceiling, creating a sense of vertical fluidity and openness.

Create the illusion of height in your home to induce a sense of freedom and spaciousness in even the smallest of spaces.

Evaluating your financial status, lifestyle expectations, and getting a home valuation from a knowledgeable Realtor are good first steps to take before making that big decision to downsize.

Living and working in Oakville, we are always more than happy and feel privileged to give back to our community. Rina is pleased to support these talented Oakville Minor Atom hockey players. Wishing them the best of luck during their playoff season. Keep up the hard work, boys! For the latest news and upcoming games for the team, click here.

Best of luck in the playoffs, boys – GO RANGERS GO!

In an effort to slow down Canada’s hot real estate markets and promote stability, the federal government has announced new down payment rules for purchasing homes between $500,000 and $1,000,000. As of February 15, rather than the current minimum of 5% down, home buyers will be required to provide a 10% down payment on any new, government-insured mortgage above $500,000.

According to CIBC World Markets’ deputy-chief economist, Benjamin Tal, the new rules are not likely to affect most homebuyers, especially those in the country’s red-hot markets where “fewer buyers tend to rely on insured, so-called high-ratio mortgages”.

Read all about it here.

Canada’s new down payment rules not likely to affect most homebuyers.

1. When available, pop ‘Icicle’ pansies into spots where summer annuals have been cleared out. They will bloom until December, then lie down for the winter. Cover them with evergreen cuttings until earliest spring, when they’ll be ready to sprout new flower buds.
2. Leaves are garden gold. Spread small leaves of trees, such as honeylocust, birch, beech, ginkgo and silver maple (or shredded large Norway maple leaves), under shrubs and over all exposed soil. They will degrade into mineral nutrients; worms will turn them into fertilizer.
3. Take a gamble and throw seeds of hardy annuals where you want them to bloom next year. Larkspur, poppies, cleome and cosmos will frequently take root from seeds sown in autumn and conditioned under winter snow.
4. Plant bulbous Asiatic and Oriental lilies in late fall to ensure flower bud set. When planting is delayed until spring they may not get enough chilling and come up blind, with no flowers.
5. Wait until the soil has frozen before mulching autumn-installed plants. After freeze-up, a thick mulch of leaves and evergreen cuttings will keep their root balls safe from the heaving action of frost.
6. Lift big, fibrous clumps of summer phlox, hostas and Siberian irises and divide with a sharp spade or knife; tease apart fleshy roots of daylilies. Late-blooming perennials such as Michaelmas daisies and obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana), purchased in bloom, can go directly into garden beds (see #5).
7. Plant garlic in October, in a sunny spot with lots of manure dug in. Set individual cloves eight centimetres deep and 15 centimetres apart, and mulch with five to eight centimetres of leaves. Hard-neck Rocambole garlics such as ‘Music’ are the hardiest strains, and, when planted in October, can be harvested in July, just as the first cherry tomatoes turn red.
8. Autumn is a good time for planting evergreen trees and shrubs. The evergreens’ root systems pump water all winter, so be sure to water them well before the ground freezes. And don’t hesitate to purchase deciduous flowering shrubs at discounted prices. Even after a summer in containers, they’ll adapt and make strong root growth in cool autumn soil.

As autumn leaves drift by your window, it may be tempting to look outside and think idle thoughts about nature taking care of itself. But like the rest of us, Mother Nature needs a good kick in the pants once in a while. Here are some fall do’s and dont’s, plus tips to help your garden get a jump-start on spring.

RENEWING OUR URBAN FOREST

The town continues to treat municipal street trees to protect against Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). However, the EAB infestation has had a devastating effect on our woodlands. Most, if not all of the town’s 43,000 woodland ash trees are now dead or dying.
The town is following best forest management practices to remove dead and dying ash trees to reduce the risk to the public and to help our woodlands regrow.
Ash tree removals from all 280 woodlands will be phased over ten-plus years.

2015 WOODLANDS HAZARD ABATEMENT PROGRAM

This year, tree removals begin in 22 woodlands in the area of town where the insect was first detected and levels of infestation are now extreme. Woodlands that have more than 50 per cent ash will be managed first. In addition to ash trees, other trees that are identified as a safety risk or are compromising the health of the forest will be removed.
Trees designated for removal or other work will be marked:
• A yellow dot or slash or an orange X indicates the tree will be cut down
• An orange dot indicates the tree will be pruned
Operations are scheduled to begin the end of August or early September, as weather and ground conditions permit.
Review the 2015 Woodlands Hazard Abatement program map (pdf, 1.34 MB) to find all properties in this year’s program.
To review the proposed schedule of the Woodlands Hazard Abatement and Woodland Maintenance programs open the 20-Year Woodland Management Plan map (pdf, 12 MB)

TEMPORARY WOODLAND PARK CLOSURES

Portions of select woodlands will be temporarily closed while trees are removed. Areas will be reopened once they are safe for public access. A schedule and list of woodland closures will be posted on the Temporary Woodland Park Closures page as the information becomes available.

NATURAL REGENERATION

While the town will establish intensive planting sites in select areas, natural regeneration will account for most of the regrowth in the woodlands.
There will be a significant change in the appearance of the woodlands following tree removals. Logs, branches and wood debris left on the forest floor will eventually break down, nourishing the soil, and aid in the natural regrowth of shrubs and trees. Visit the Iroquois Shoreline Woods page as a prime example of how a forest can regrow over time.

FSC CERTIFIED

By following best forest management practices, the Town of Oakville is the first lower-tier municipality in Canada to have all 280 of its woodlands achieve Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) certification through the forest certification program of the Eastern Ontario Model Forest. The FSC® is an international, membership-based, non-profit organization that supports environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests.
For further details please review the Frequently Asked Questions page.
To learn more about the town’s EAB management program, visit the Emerald Ash Borer page.

“There will be a significant change in the appearance of the woodlands following tree removals. Logs, branches and wood debris left on the forest floor will eventually break down, nourishing the soil, and aid in the natural regrowth of shrubs and trees. Visit the Iroquois Shoreline Woods page as a prime example of how a forest can regrow over time.”

BANK OF CANADA KEEPS RATES ON HOLD

The Bank of Canada announced on September 9th, 2015 that it was keeping its trend-setting target overnight lending rate at 0.5 percent.

Little has changed since the Bank’s previous announcement and revised economic forecast published in July. Its September announcement serves as a placeholder as the Bank awaits more economic data prior to the release in October of its Monetary Policy Report which will be published two days after the federal election.

Previously, the Bank said it expected most of economic damage from the oil price shock would be “front loaded”, with the hit to economic growth being sharp but contained mostly in the first half of the year. However, in its September announcement, the Bank said that the adjustments stemming for the oil shock “are complex and are expected to take considerable time”.

This suggests that the Bank may soon revise its economic forecast in October to reflect how ongoing weakness in the oil patch may continue to offset strength in other sectors of the economy and lead to weaker than currently projected economic growth over the second half of the year.

At this point, the Bank is unlikely to be concerned with the need to fight inflation by raising interest rates. Headline inflation continues to trend near the bottom of the Bank’s target range between 1 and 3 per cent, mostly because of oil prices. Core inflation is hovering near two per cent. Underlying inflation is likely somewhere slightly below two per cent.

The Bank’s September announcement was shorter than usual and acknowledged increased uncertainty while highlighting both upside and downside risks to growth. The Bank now has until October to gauge how it thinks the economy will evolve over the rest of this year. In the meantime, interest rates will remain very supportive for household spending and the housing market.

As of September 9th, 2015, the advertised five-year lending rate stood at 4.64 per cent, unchanged from the previous Bank rate announcement on July 15th, and down 0.15 percentage points from one year ago.

The next interest rate announcement will be on October 21st, 2015, and will be accompanied by an update to the Monetary Policy report.

Little has changed since the Bank’s previous announcement and revised economic forecast published in July. Its September announcement serves as a placeholder as the Bank awaits more economic data prior to the release in October of its Monetary Policy Report which will be published two days after the federal election.