February Newsletter 2012

February 2012 News Letter

Nanaimo Real Estate News Letter – by Jeff King

February 1, 2012

January 2012 Sales Stats for Nanaimo

Well, the first month of a new year is over already.  Only 11 more to go and think that makes about 325 day ’till Christmas! Ok, that’s left over from the bout of snow we had a couple of weeks ago.  But hey, the snow is gone now and as I am writing this it’s sunny and a mild 9 degrees Celsius outside.  If you don’t already, you should live here.  And if you interested in moving here…the market is picking up! There are currently just over 1200 properties listed for sale on the local MLS system.  Showing 541 Single family homes, 300 condos, 230 lots and mixed bag for the rest.

Wow!  38 single family units sold in the month of January.  Impressive!  North Nanaimo takes the cake selling 12 of the 38 units.  Central Nanaimo and Pleasant Valley follow with 5 and 4 units each making a total of 55% of the sold market.  The average house price listed was $367,000 and sold for 97% at $354,000.

The condo market is start off slowly (no surprise) with 5 apartment style units averaging $222K, and 4 Townhouse style selling on average for $288K.  Apartment style units still sell slower with an average day on the market of 96 vs. 21 for townhouse.

For the rest, check out the market stats on my site by clicking here.

Mortgage Rates

SMP Fixed Rates

1-Year – 2.39%

2-Year – 2.64%

3-Year – 2.89%

4-Year – 2.72%

5-Year – 2.96%

SMP Adjustable Rates

3-Year – 2.70%

5-Year – 2.70%

I’ve also seen a 10 year “set it and forget it” rate as coined by Adam Hawryluk.  There are conditions and You can contact him by phone at 250-754-7775 or email him, adam@cmexp.com to get the details.

TIP

If you’re buying a new house (new home construction) and you are looking to get the HST rebate here are the three things you’ll need to get and it should come from your lawyer/notary.

1. Buyer’s  Statement of adjustments
2. Form      HST 190E
3. Form      HST 254-V

For further details and explanation visit my blog here.

In the News

Prices didn’t move much over the year but they say we had 6% increases over January of last year.  As did in February of last year I suspect that the prices will slide as more inventory becomes available.  My prediction for the rest of the year though is tough for some to swallow.  I see the prices going down as buyers can’t really afford the higher prices.  You can argue that the low interest rates are going to make things affordable for buyers but let’s be realistic.  With prime lending where it is, there really isn’t any room for the rates to trickle down further.  According to research, the cost of living is up 1.7% but the average wage across the country is only up 2.1%.  People don’t really have any extra cash for down payments and saving this money is getting tougher!  We’ll have to wait and see what happens with the economy over the next couple of months.

If you are renting and looking to buy, make sure that you understand your rights and the rights of your landlord with regards to leaving your rental home.  Also, if you are thinking of selling and you have tenants, get familiar with the rules around timing and showings.  You can find this info on the Residential Tenancy Office’s website by following this link.

If you want to confirm the allowable rent increase for 2012 is as follows: (information taken from the rto website)

Conventional Residential Tenancies:

For a conventional residential tenancy rent increase that takes effect in 2012, the allowable increase is 4.3 per cent.  The annual allowable rent increase for conventional residential tenancies is determined by the formula in the Residential Tenancy Regulation.  Section 22 of the Residential Tenancy Regulation establishes the annual rent increase formula at inflation plus two per cent. The regulation defines the inflation rate as the “12-month average percent change in the all-items Consumer Price Index for British Columbia ending in the July that is most recently available”. The Consumer Price Index is published by Statistics Canada.

Check my website www.jeffkinghomes.com if you are interested in market info or if you have clients looking to move to the area.  Follow me on twitter @jeffkinghomes!

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