Recent stats indicate that home sales for June in Vancouver have dropped over 30% compared to last year's numbers. Vancouver is not alone as Toronto saw a drop of 23% and Calgary is showing a decrease of close to 40% for the same time frame. In order to combat these figures, prices will have to come down significantly.
The tax credit amount is determined by the lowest personal income tax rate of the year times $5000. For instance, 2009’s lowest rate was 15%. Multiplied by the amount of $5000, this equals $750. So, for 2009, the HBTC is $750. Each year, the credit is recalculated, so it may be higher or lower than previous years.
Low home prices and interest rates are the most obvious ones, but did you know about the First Time Home Buyers tax credit and the increase in the withdrawal ceiling on the RRSP Home Buyers Plan? The 2009 federal budget is making home ownership easier than ever.
Overall, even with the encouraging sales figures coming from Vancouver, CREA forecasts that national sales activity in 2011 will experience a slight decline of 1.3% from 2010 figures. Signs indicate that a notable rebound can be expected in Canadian property sales during 2012.
Until now the only way to have your home listed on the popular MLS service was to hire a Realtor to represent you. For a commission the Realtor will provide you with many services, including the submission of your property on the MLS, and several other online real estate data bases.
However, many Canadian millionaires made their money from careful real estate investment, so if you start on the road to multiple property ownership, you may realize financial success in ensuing years.
The ceiling for RRSPs is remaining at $25,000. Canadians may recall the changes to the 2009 budget that bumped up the amount of funds that one may draw out of their RRSP from $20,000 to $25,000.
While it is possible for us all to coast along financially for a while more, we will all soon be forced to buy less in the near future whether we want to or not. Higher prices will ensure that we are getting less for our dollar, so we need to spend those dollars on more important things.
What has worked in the past to get more Canadians into home ownership—like low interest rates and small required down payments—has also worked to cause problems for many of those home owners now that interest rates have risen. Our modern perception that everyone should strive for home ownership is also a factor that has pushed people into buying homes that they cannot comfortably afford; but our government may well be changing the way that home buying works in the future.
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