Newsletter

Our monthly newsletter is published. Enjoy.

Thank you to Carmena Consulting for writing it!!!

If you have any questions about the content, please don't hesitate to contact us. Also a referral of from you to your family and friends is the greatest compliment. We are never too busy to assist.

Krista and Sherri

Meeting with Kerry Davies

Had a lovely coffee meeting with Kerry Davies, a local realtor who helped me, Krista, buy two rental houses. It was nice to chat about what this market is doing and how hot it is becoming. It's matching the weather! Sold signs are sprouting up everywhere.

Janis of Carmena Consulting was also there to talk about Web 2.0 and the importance of having a blog attached to your website. She and her partner, Deedee Designs, built our website and oriented it towards Education Based Marketing. We want to educate the buyer....let them know how to get into this real estate market and why they should.

It must be the interest rates and how low they are. This is definitely the time to get into the market. Call us and we can help.

Enjoy the weather and don't forget to Slip, Slap and Slop! Slip on that that shirt, Slap on that hat and Slop on that sunscreen!

Krista and Sherri
Lawless Brown Mortgage Brokers

Victoria Housing Market Gains Strength

www.vreb.ca
The Greater Victoria area housing market gained additional strength last month with a significant increase in sales along with firm prices. A total of 879 homes and other properties sold in May through the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®), up 17 per cent from the 747 sales in April and up 14 per cent compared to the 770 sales in May of last year. Prices for single family homes and condominiums were up slightly while townhome prices showed little change.
Victoria Real Estate Board President, Chris Markham, says there is every indication the rebound in the market will continue in the months ahead, “Sales were significantly higher last month than a year ago and prices appear to be strengthening in key sectors.” Markham noted that the number of properties available for sale dropped last month. In addition, continuing attractive interest rates and growing consumer confidence are helping to fuel activity which is particularly strong in the mid-price range. “Over half of the single family homes sold last month
were priced between $400,000 and $600,000.” There were 33 sales of single family homes over $1 million including six on the Gulf Islands. There were 3,789 properties available for sale at the end of May, down 13 per cent from the 4,332 properties available in the same month a year ago.
The average price for single family homes sold in Greater Victoria last month was $573,442, up from $550,736 in April. The median price also rose to $525,000. The six-month average was $550,756. The overall average price for condominiums was $306,971 last month, up from $292,252 in April. The average for the last six months was $292,766. The median price for condominiums rose in May to $279,500. The average price of all townhomes sold last month was $400,788, virtually unchanged from $400,695 in April. The median price dropped slightly to $375,000. The six month average was $397,224.
MLS® sales last month included 514 single family homes, 223 condominiums, 88 townhomes and eight manufactured homes.

GREAT NEWS!!!!

Call us if you want to jump into the Victoria Real Estate Market. Whether it is a personal home or a rental....we can help!!
♦
Krista and Sherri
Lawless Brown Mortgage Brokers

HARPER: 'THE WORST IS BEHIND US'

Prime minister encouraged by new data that suggests economy is in recovery mode

JULIAN BELTRAME
THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA

Canadians have reason to breathe a little easier -- the economy fell sharply at the start of the year but talk about another depression appears to have been just talk.
Having been given the best economic news in months, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quick to take advantage yesterday, saying the Liberals have no reason to push for a federal election.
"I think the worst is behind us, we will have better quarters going forward,'' Harper said in an interview with a Toronto radio station.
"I think that's one of the reasons (Liberal Leader Michael) Ignatieff seems to be pushing so hard with ideas to get the other parties to bring the government down. He would love the opportunity to get in there for a recovery. The country needs an election like a hole in the head,'' Harper added.
The output numbers for the first quarter of 2009 were nothing to boast about. The economy contracted by a massive 5.4 per cent at an annualized rate, the worst in 18 years when there was a 5.9 per cent decline in 1991.
But with the Bank of Canada having projected a 7.3 per cent collapse and some economists saying the decline could be as much as nine per cent, the Statistics Canada data has the feel of a death row reprieve.
And the improving data for the last two months of the quarter -- February and March -- suggests that as Harper noted, the worst is likely over and it happened during the November-January period.
"It is the worst recession since the Great Depression globally, but this is where some of Canada's positives have come back to save us a bit from something nastier,'' said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist with BMO Capital Markets.
"Make no mistake, it's a very severe downturn. But we've been through these kinds of severe downturns before in the early '80s and early '90s.''
Combined with the revised 3.7 per cent drop in the fourth quarter of 2008, Liberal finance critic John McCallum said the slump still qualifies as among the worst since quarterly data began being kept in 1961.
But he too expressed relief that "there is less panic than there was a while ago . . . and more sense that, 'Yeah, we are going to get out of this."'
McCallum said his party will still press for improvements to unemployment insurance to ensure that more laid-off Canadians qualify for benefits, saying the economy will likely continue to shed jobs for months to come.

Sincerely,

Heather Keetbaas, Ba, AMP
Director, Business Development
MERIX FINANCIAL

Enjoy,
Krista and Sherri
Lawless Brown Mortgage Brokers

Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who joined us this evening. It was our first time hosting the Sidney Chamber of Commerce and we really enjoyed it. It was wonderful meeting so many local business people.

Please don't hesitate to drop in anytime and say hello.

Cheers
Krista and Sherri
Lawless Brown Mortgage Brokers

Come Join Us!!

Want an Excellent Networking Opportunity?

Come join us for

the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

Business after Business Mixer

that we are hosting on

May 21^st, 2009

Sidney Mortgage Depot

2446 Beacon Ave.

5-7pm

Come meet new people and catch up with old associates

In today’s economic times business connections are more important then ever.

Please RSVP

krista@lawlessbrown.com

250-656-0855

Appetizers and Beverages will be served

See you then

Arlene, Sherri and Krista

More Cash in Our Homes

Canadians have more Equity in their Houses than Americans, says Survey
By Garry Marr, Financial PostApril 23, 2009

Canadians continue to have more than two-thirds more equity in their home than Americans, according to a new survey.
The study for the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals shows Canadian homeowners have, on average, 72% equity in their house, compared with 43% for Americans.
"It is a very positive part of the Canadian housing story," said Jim Murphy, chief executive of Toronto-based CAAMP. "Canadians pay down their mortgages. Canadians are just more conservative than Americans."
The study also found that Canadians have dramatically reduced the amount of equity they are taking out of their home. A year ago 22% of Canadians had accessed the equity in their home through measures such as lines of credit. Today that is down to 15%.
"This speaks to the whole thing about people belt-tightening," said Mr. Murphy.
Despite the drop in prices in the Canadians marketplace, only 2% of Canadian mortgage holders have negative equity, in which the value of their mortgage is higher than the value of their home.
About the only new risk Canadians seem to be taking on is longer amortizations. While 83% of Canadians have an amortizations of 25 years or less, the number with 30-year and 35-year amortizations is rising. In the past six months, 46% of new mortgages have been for amortization of more than 25 years.
"I don't think it's a worry because [Canadians] are paying down their mortgages," said Will Dunning, chief economist with CAAMP, noting the percentage of Canadians in arrears on their mortgage is rising but the total is still 0.38% of all mortgage holders. "That's the middle of historical averages."
Mr. Dunning said the study also indicates that subprime mortgages are likely a very small percentage of the Canadian marketplace. Only 2% of all Canadian mortgages have interest rates of 8% or higher -- the low-water level for what would constitute the rate on a sub prime mortgage.
The survey did show that Canadians are also taking advantage of continued drops in interest rates by increasingly buying into variable rate products. CAAMP says 28% of Canadians have variable-rate products that are tied to prime. The number is rising, with 36% of new mortgage orientation in the past 12 months going into variablerate products.
With the Bank of Canada's decision to lower rates another 25 basis points and its commitment to not change rates for another year, Canadians are expected to continue to take advantage of a record-low prime rates, which are 2.25% at most financial institutions.

Krista and Sherri
www.lawlessbrown.com