Written by Piper Birks on January 14, 2012.
The Bank of Canada announced this morning that interest rates will remain unchanged for the 11th consecutive time over the past 15 months. The last time the BOC made a change to the overnight lending rate was in September 2010 with a moderate increase of 0.25 per cent.
The overnight rate currently sits at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is 1.25 per cent and the deposit rate is 0.75 per cent.
The news is really no news at all, given that nearly all industry professionals and top economists were anticipating no change. But what should be of interest to consumers is the justification behind the decision. Heres why the Bank of Canada is keeping interest rates where they are.
- The outlook for the global economy is getting worse.
- The recession in Europe is expected to be deeper and last longer than originally anticipated.
- The BOC was coy in suggesting they had faith Europe could get a handle on the situation: although this assumption is clearly subject to downside risks.
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Written by Lilian Rydge on January 12, 2012.
The Lenox at Patterson Place apartment complex in Durham has sold for $28.8 million, or $9.7 million more than the seller paid for the property just two years ago.
The Connor Group of Ohio bought the 292-unit complex in December 2009 for just over $19 million.
Lenox’s new owner is Chicago-based Westdale Investment Partners.
The deal reflects the strong performance of the apartment sector in recent years, particularly newer properties in good locations.
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Written by Lilian Rydge on January 10, 2012.
Got $3 million and a dream? The luxury housing market in King County was a good place to be in 2011! The average price per square foot, average sale price and number of homes on the market all point to the continuation of a huge buyer’s market in these higher price brackets. While there’s no set definition of what the “luxury” market is ($1 million buys a lot more home in Phoenix than it does in Seattle), for this we’re looking at homes that sold for $3 million or more.
The by-the-numbers list below shows a steady decrease in price per square foot, and on top of that, at the current pace of sales, it would take four years for all those homes to sell. In a balanced market, there would only be 4-6 months of supply.
Redfin area manager Febe Cude works mostly in Mercer Island, Laurelhurst, Ravenna and Queen Anne. She says
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Written by Piper Birks on January 10, 2012.
Risky mortgage lending played a significant role in the credit crunch that started the financial meltdown of the past 4 years.
The housing boom saw 100% plus mortgages and ‘pile-em high sell-em cheap’ supermarket style mortgage pricing.
When the market peaked in 2007 just about anyone could walk in to a high street mortgage lenders branch and apply for a 125% loan to value mortgage.
Although the mortgage market seems to have almost corrected itself, the Financial Service Authority (FSA) has published its recommendations for reform. The
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Written by Lilian Rydge on December 31, 2011.
With the recent run-up in row-crop farmland prices, savvy investors should be looking to similar investments that offer many of the same benefits of crop land ownership, without the hefty price tag. Timberland is just such an asset. In fact, timber is a crop. It just has a much longer production cycle. And here’s a secret…when you look at the asset classes held by the ultra-wealthy, almost without fail, you will see a heavy timberland flavor. Institutional investors, and high net worth individuals have already begun to take advantage of this opportunity. If you have not recognized this opportunity until now, it’s time to educate yourself on the benefits of timberland ownership.
Now I’ve mentioned the wealthy a couple of times here, but that does not mean you need 10 million dollars socked away to buy into a timberland asset. Those w
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