Cool tools for Canada Real Estate Agents

There are so many tools out there for Realtors in Canada…which ones to use! I came across an excellent site that is building up a fast viewer loyalty, Big Encore. From social media to CRM there is lots to browse through and learn. If your a Realtor and want to know whats going with real estate marketing then check this site out.

RBC Says Housing Canada Real Estate Market…

A stronger economy will offset the effects of higher mortgage rates and keep Canadian house prices stable over the next two years, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.

In a market update that has the bank forecasting price gains of 0.5 per cent in 2011 and 1.3 per cent in 2012, economist Robert Hogue said that after two years of “gyrating wildly,” the Canadian housing market is likely to be a much less interesting place for the next several years.

The Bank of Canada will likely raise interest rates by 100 basis points this year and another 150 basis points in 2012, he said, making mortgage payments more expensive for the majority of homeowners. But real gross domestic product is expected to increase to 3.2 per cent in 2011 from 2.9 per cent in 2010.

See Whole Artice from the Globe and Mail…Canada Real Estate

Realty Times – Mortgage Rates Show Mixed Results This Week

The American real estate market – Freddy Mac today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) which shows mixed results in both long- and short-term rates this week.

Realty Times – Mortgage Rates Show Mixed Results This Week.

Buyers Scared of Canada Real Estate

Once again the media is scaring the public into thinking the sky is falling. When an article is titled “House Price Collapse“, what are buyers going to think? They will think don’t buy! The impact of this is huge as buyers decide to hold off on buying until they feel confident the housing market is stable again. When buyers stop buying, sellers stop selling and they in turn can’t buy the house they want. The whole market will collapse if buyer confidence disappears. I can appreciate letting the public know if rising interest rates, its important they do know. But to throw out numbers of 25-35% decrease in house prices is ridiculous. There are many markets across Canada that all react different to change and a 35% drop would be on the sky is falling end of the spectrum. These types of media outbursts only makes things potentially worse.

Mobile Marketing with Texting

The Realtor…

Bank of Canada

OTTAWA – A new report predicts that Canada’s housing market is poised for a collapse and is only waiting for the trigger of rising interest rates expected for later this year — a view that flies in the face of many other forecasts.

Capital Economics calculates Canadian home prices could fall by about 25 per cent — and even as much as 35 per cent — over the next three years once the Bank of Canada begins tightening monetary policy.

Most economists expect the central bank will begin doing just that in late spring or early summer, with the trendsetting rate rising from the current one per cent to over two per cent by the end of the year.

And the Bank of Canada is expected to keep hiking the policy rate next year until it returns to normal levels — about 3.5 per cent — by the end of 2012.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/interest-rate-rise-could-trigger-house-price-collapse-20110203-113320-984.html

StreetText.com

Here is an awesome way for realtors to market their listings using texting.

www.STreetText.com

Buyer demands remain strong in Vancouver

Greater Vancouver home sales remained strong last month, with the second highest number of residential sales ever recorded for the month of September.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) reports that residential property sales in Greater Vancouver totalled 3,559 in September 2009, an increase of 3.4 per cent from the 3,441 sales recorded in August 2009, and an increase of 124.5 per cent compared to September 2008 when 1,585 sales were recorded.

“As homes sales in Greater Vancouver continued at an elevated pace in September it’s encouraging to see that more homes were listed on the MLS® in the month than any other so far this year,” Scott Russell, REBGV president said.
New listings for detached, attached and apartment properties in Greater Vancouver totalled 5,764 in September 2009. This represents a 6.2 per cent decline compared to September 2008 when 6,142 new units were listed, but a 26.8 per cent increase compared to August 2009 when 4,544 properties were listed on the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in Greater Vancouver.

At 12,596, the total number of property listings on the MLS® increased 5.5 per cent in September compared to last month and declined 36 per cent from the 19,852 homes listed for sale during the buyer’s market that was experienced at this time last year. 

read more…

Average Home Price in Calgary…

The average home price in Calgary over the last 30 days was $455,753.  There are over 3100 active single family homes on the market.