From the Desk of Dennis Klinskey
 WOW - It is a great time to be a buyer!
This is a great time to be a Buyer - but bear in mind that most
sellers in this industry are also buyers, because when a home
sells, the sellers become buyers, so low interest rates and other
programs work industry wide. It is hard not to notice the lowering
of interest rates to record lows, but you may have not noticed
items in the recent budget that were designed to stimulate the
Real Estate industry - and what a budget it was.
For First Time buyers:
There has been a $5,000 increase to the RRSP Home Buyer's plan,
which means that first - time home buyers can now withdraw
up to $25,000 from their RRSP's for a down payment - tax and
interest free.
There is now a $750 tax credit for first time home buyers to
help with closing costs, such as legal fees, disbursements and
land transfer tax.
For Home Owners:
For homeowners there was $300 million set aside for ecoENERGY
retrofit grants. If you are not familiar with the ecoENERGY
retrofit grants, call me. I have had several clients who have
taken advantage of this program and it is a good one. Under
this program an energy audit is done of the home, and subsidies
are available for renovations that are done to the house to
increase energy efficiency.
Under the Home Renovation Tax Credit you can claim 15% of the
cost of home renovations up to February 1 of 2010. On 2009 tax
returns you can claim renovation costs over $1000 but not exceeding
$10,000, and one of the nice things about this program is that
it does not appear to involve as much red tape as most government
programs. You will, of course, have to save appropriate receipts,
and the list of eligible expenses includes renovating kitchens,
bathrooms, or basements, new carpeting or flooring, building
additions, decks or retaining walls, installation of furnaces
or water heaters, interior and exterior painting, or driveway
sealing. Note that routine maintenance does not qualify, nor
does new furniture, appliances, tools, carpet cleaning and snow
removal etc.
Ontario Home Energy Audit
On February 24th the Toronto Star carried a headline that read, "Home
sellers face $300 "green" audit." It is part
of the "Green Energy Act" that was unveiled by Energy
Minister George Smitherman. No details were given about the audit
but it appears to be the same audit that is associated with the
ecoENERGY retrofit grants. I often recommend ecoENERGY audits
to clients and I applaud the Ontario Government for encouraging
efficiency in homes but at this time the imposition of a mandatory
energy audit for home sales is premature.
An Energuide for an existing home, particularly an older one,
is at best an approximation because there are just so many variables
and Energuide ratings for existing homes can and do vary between
auditors, often depending on the information that they have available.
Currently there are barely enough energy auditors available to
service the requirements of the ecoENERGY program so requiring
an audit for every home that is brought to the market without
first establishing industry wide training, standards and regulation
would be chaotic. A far better place to start would be to focus
on revised building codes for new construction, and phase in
energy efficient retrofits as the infrastructure can support
it.
Our Market
I recently attended a seminar conducted by CMHC (Canada Mortgage
and Housing Corp) and the reality of our market is markedly different
than the perception that one gets from the press. Much
of the information was for the Barrie area since it is a larger
market and there are deeper statistics to back up what they
had to say, but the outlook in the Collingwood area was
addresses as well, and the fundamental numbers are good. While
there is a slow down in job growth, it will remain above historical
averages. Housing starts will slow from the blistering
pace that we have witnessed, but they will remain active as
the area continues to accommodate the population that is moving
to the area. Mortgage defaults are at record lows, and
current interest rates, currently at record lows, are predicted
to remain there for some time.
|
