Archive for the ‘Real estate’ Category

New Mortgage Rules in effect as of March 18, 2011

Monday, January 17th, 2011

 

  • Reduce the maximum amortization period to 30 years from 35 years for new government-backed insured mortgages with a loan to value ratio of more than 80 per cent.  This will significatnly reduce the total interest payments Canadian families make on their mortgages, allowing Canadian families to build up equity in their homes more quickly, and help Canadians pay off their mortgages before they retire.
  • Lower the maximum amount Canadians can borrow in refinancing their mortgages to 85% from 90% of the value of their homes.  This will promote saving through home ownership and limit the repackaging of consumer debt into mortgages guaranteed by taxpayers.
  • Withdraw government insurance backing on lines of credit secured by homes, such as home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs.  This will ensure that risks associated with consumer debt products used to borrow funds unrelated to house purchases are managed by the financial institutions and not by borne by taxpayers.

These changes above will take effect March 18, 2011 with the exception of insured HELOC (bullet 3) will take effect April 18, 2011.

 

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Calgary is Top 5 City to Live in the WORLD!!

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

 

calgaryoympicplazaVancouver, Melbourne, Vienna, Toronto, and CALGARY
named world’s most liveable cities
A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit

EIU says that depite controversy surrounding the growing number of homeless people in Vancouver, general liveability levels were high. “Residents and visitors benefit from good transport links and broad cultural and recreational availability although, as in any large city, there is still some prevalence of petty crime.”

Vienna is ranked second in the EIU survey, followed by Melbourne in third place. Two other Canadian cities, Toronto and Calgary, complete the top five. Canadian and Australian cities account for seven of the top ten, with Vienna, Helsinki and Auckland making up the 10 most liveable destinations surveyed. It is also remarkable that, with the exeption of Vienna and Helsinki, all top-ten cities are in English-speaking countries. Unlike in the

 

Mercer survey, Swiss cities, like Zurich and Geneva, don’t feature in the EIU top ten.

EIU’s ten ‘best’ cities in the world

 

Rank
City
Country
1
 Vancouver Canada
2
 Vienna Austria
3
 Melbourne Australia
4
 Toronto Canada
5
 Calgary Canada
6
 Helsinki Finland
7
 Sydney Australia
=8
 Perth Australia
=8
 Adelaide Australia
10
 Auckland New Zealand

Mercer Consulting’s 50 best cities in the world

The EIU report, which describes the concept of liveability as simple, is written for business people from western countries and used to work out hardship allowances as part of an expatriate’s relocation package. The report’s authors say that the survey quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide. Seen from such a western perspective, it is therefore not suprising that the survey’s lowest ranked cities are all in developing countries.

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