Earlier today, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced changes to mortgage lending standards for mortgages.  He said that while the housing market is healthy and there’s no real evidence of a bubble, the moves are needed to “help prevent negative trends from developing.”

The changes are designed to bring stability to the lending market and head off potential problems such as those experienced south of the border with the sub-prime mortgage crisis.  With interest rates almost certain to rise in the months and years ahead, the government is trying to ensure Canadian borrowers will be able to carry higher debt loads created by higher rates.

Having said that, the changes are far less than rumoured and are likely to have little impact on the average home buyer.  Yes, people can still buy a home with a down payment of 5%.

The new rules are made up of three changes:

1. Borrowers will need to meet standards for five-year fixed-rate mortgages regardless of whether they’re seeking a loan with a lower rate and shorter term. Right now, borrowers may qualify for mortgages based on lower rates as a percentage of income.  Under the new rules, only the 5 year rate will apply.  Why it’s not so bad:  In 2009, over 85% of mortgages were for fixed terms and of those, 70% were for5 year terms.  All of those would still qualify under the new rules.
2. The maximum amount Canadians can withdraw when refinancing their homes changes from the current 95% to a maximum of 90% of the value of their homes.  In many cases, refinancing options are used to transfer high credit card balances to lower rate mortgages.  Under the new rules, mortgagees will have to build up at least 10% equity in their homes in order to do so.
3. The down payment for government-backed mortgage insurance on speculative, non-owner occupied investment properties increases from 5% to 20%. This is intended to discourage real estate speculation often seen in rising markets driving house prices artificially high.

It would appear to me that the government has taken a balanced approach to this issue in a way that should neither spur a run-up in pricing or dampen the real estate market.  What they’ve done is put rogue lenders on notice that the government is watching.

The new regulations take effect on April 19, 2010.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “For every benefit you receive a tax is levied.”  How very true.

As municipalities across the Province struggle to establish budgets and tax rates, I can’t help but wonder how they ever arrive at a decision.  There are so many factors to consider and endless demands to entertain.  Councilors and staff need to consider reserves, debt ratios, debenture levels, user fees, development charges,  capital needs, infrastructure needs and future planning for capital repair IN ADDITION TO a long laundry list of ratepayers wants and needs.

When I read local blogs, letters to the editor or listen to conversations around town, there is a big disconnect in the public thinking about getting what you want but not wanting to pay for it.

Everyone is complaining about government spending.  Naturally, we all feel we are paying too much in property taxes and every time there is another expenditure approved, you can hear the howls of protest.  But at the very same time, you can watch the parade of people with hands out… more money for the animal shelter, hospital, CAS.  More fire fighters.  A roof over a rink or a second ice surface, a wellness centre, a new library, street repairs, free parking and more affordable housing.  Fix the sidewalks, plow the snow faster, build more trails. 

How is it that the very same people making monetary demands are often the very same people whinging about tax increases?  Don’t they get it?  This stuff costs money!

Every year, a consulting firm does a municipal comparison of tax rates for 81 municipalities in Ontario.  I found a copy of the complete study on the city of London website and if you take the time to actually scan through all 402 pages of this document, you might get a sense of just how complex taxation in Ontario proves to be.

You may be surprised to learn that Collingwood has the LOWEST relative tax burden for the Industrial class of all 81 municipalities surveyed.  You might not be surprised to learn that Wasaga Beach has one of the lowest relative tax burdens for residential taxes as a percent of household income.  Some other areas that caught my eye included the fact that Collingwood has average expenditures per capita ABOVE the average for fire and police services ( that is before the recent request to expand the number of firefighters) and, we have the HIGHEST expenditures per capita of all 81 municipalities for park operating costs.  The average is $40 per capita.  Wasaga Beach spends $45.00 and Collingwood spends $87.00.

My first reaction would be that I hope councilors read these reports before they make budget decisions.
My second reaction is that we spend too much on parks and, we tax industry too little.
My third thought is that perhaps this is all wrong.  Perhaps we spend more on policing and fire because we have a wider geographic area.  Perhaps we spend more on parks because we demand it to be so.  Perhaps having the lowest industrial tax rates helps in our economic development strategies and maybe that is why we are getting a big new industrial park.

The only thing I know for sure is that it must be incredibly challenging to set a municipal budget.  And I want my taxes to stop climbing.  And I want everything around town to be nothing short of perfect.

The following information was obtained from the MLS® statistics provided by the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board. They include a summary of data for the following areas only: Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Blue Mountain, Clearview, Grey Highlands and Meaford. Previous week(s) are in brackets.

Single Family Residential
New Listings: 40 (37, 40, 64)
Average List Price: $408,104.75
Range of List Prices: $139,000 – $1,450,000
Number of Sales: 19 (15, 14, 9)
Range of Sale Prices: $134,000 – $775,000

Condominiums
New Listings: 16 (14, 13, 21)
Average List Price: $248,925
Range of List Prices: $114,500 – $459,000
Number of Sales: 5 (7, 6, 5)
Range of Sale Prices: $115,000 – $350,000

Vacant Land
New Listings: 10 (17, 13, 9)
Number of Sales: 0 (1, 1, 2)
Range of Sale Prices: $0

Number of Prices Changes All Types (down or up): 30

Nope – this isn’t an “R” rated post, although I am talking about a four-letter word beginning with the letter “F”…flea!  Recently I was showing property in Collingwood to a lovely young couple with whom I am working, who would like to buy a home in our quaint little town. Boy, did we get more than we bargained for at one of the houses we were viewing!

We toured the house, which had carpets that needed to be replaced.  Judging by the stains on those carpets, we had already made the assumption that a pet had previously been one of the residents in that home.  As it is winter, we donned our coats, boots, hats and scarves, and gamely stepped onto the front porch, when we were finished looking.  I was busy replacing the key into the electronic lockbox, when my gentleman client noticed a little too much hopping going on – on his pants! (Really, any amount of hopping on your pants is too much hopping!)  The three of us were astounded to look down and see teeny tiny fleas making merry on our appendages!  The three of us began to strip away some of our clothing, on the front porch in the snow, trying to get rid of the little blighters!

I’ll forever remember the sight of my female client whipping her socks off and flicking them in the air, attempting to dislodge the fleas from them! Our boots, our socks, our legs and our pants were infested and we had quite a job removing them from our persons before getting back into my car to continue our tour.  We scratched ourselves silly through the rest of our tour – imagining the worst and hoping for the best.  We all had flea bites to contend with and coupled with the fact that we all have dogs at home, we were worried about bringing fleas home with us.  To say I was hoppingmad, would be a mildly pun-ny understatement.

The reality of the situation is that when a tenant or an owner vacates a property, with their flea-infested pet in tow, some fleas remain in the carpets… in the floorboards… on mats…and they lie in wait for another ‘host’ to come along.  They become very hungry while they are waiting and they bide their time reproducing – making more and more little fleas.  In this case, these little pests found THREE new hosts to feast upon when we came by to look at this house.  Unfortunately, the only thing to do at this point to cure the situation, would be to get professional help in removing that very lively colony of fleas from that house!

Surprisingly, this doesn’t happen all that often, but once is definitely enough for me and for my clients.  As for our bites, well, they are healing. On the upside – our impromptu strip-tease on the front porch in the snow provided great entertainment for the neighbours, and I have a new nickname:  Gypsy Rose Flea.

Even with the new proposed regulations surrounding their installations,  the debate about wind turbines continue to rage in Ontario and certainly here in the Blue Mountain area.  Recent letters to the editor such as this one and this one highlight the divergent opinions that exist.  Coalitions of citizens have formed groups such as the Blue Highlands Citizens Coalition and the Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment to examine the issues and lobby government.

A recent column by Bob Aaron in the Toronto Star caught my attention as he described the case of a taxpayer who challenged the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) in September, 2008. (How did we miss that!?) 

This case set a landmark precedent attaching a dollar value to potential impacts of industrial wind installations on surrounding land owners.

A fellow by the name of Paul Thompson of Amaranth Township in the Shelburne area, appealed the assessed value of his home on the basis that it was located opposite a hydro substation that served an area wind farm.  His appeal was not actually based on the existence of the turbines but rather, on the noise produced by the substation.  He entered evidence that showed it emitted noise at a decibel level exceeding the normally acceptable  range.

In its ruling, the board member wrote that, “The Board finds that the constant hum alleged by Mr. Thompson does exist and significantly reduces the current value of the subject property.”  They also said, “Having heard this nuisance, apparently sanctioned by the Municipality, the Board accepts Mr. Thompson’s testimony that the stigma of noise contamination has a negative impact on the value and marketability of the property, and that after learning of the hum, prospective purchasers will quickly lose interest in purchasing the property. The Board is satisfied that a very substantial reduction is warranted.”
 
The Board cut Mr. Thompsons assessed value of his property in half from $255,000 to $127,000.  What I find troubling about this case is that the number was not quantified and I read no evidence to suggest what the new property value should be.  Does this mean that a property affected by noise is impacted by $127,000 in that location?  Is that the new number?  If the house were originally valued at $150,000 or at $750,000, how would the value have changed?

Only time will answer the question as the free market adjusts for new conditions emerging in a new world.

The map featured here comes from the Canadian Wind Energy Association website which lists on the site, all of the current wind farm operations in Canada.

Current local discussion:
Enterprise-Bulletin article about plans in Clearview (Stayner/Creemore): Citizens Rally To Put Halt To Turbines
Blue Mountains Courier Herald:  Grey County Wants Wind Turbine Moratorium

The following information was obtained from the MLS® statistics provided by the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board. They include a summary of data for the following areas only: Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Blue Mountain, Clearview, Grey Highlands and Meaford. Previous week(s) are in brackets.

Single Family Residential
New Listings: 37 (40, 64, 51)
Average List Price: $392,457.08
Range of List Prices: $166,999 – $1,250,000
Number of Sales: 15 (14, 9, 13)
Range of Sale Prices: $156,500 – $385,000

Condominiums
New Listings: 14 (13, 21, 12)
Average List Price: $192,778.57
Range of List Prices: $79,900 – $419,000
Number of Sales: 7 (6, 5, 5)
Range of Sale Prices: $105,000 – $185,000

Vacant Land
New Listings: 17 (13, 9,14)
Number of Sales: 1 (1, 2, 1)
Range of Sale Prices: $175,000

Number of Prices Changes All Types (down or up): 14

Items of Note:
One single family residence sold AT it’s list price, and one sold OVER it’s list price.

I know it will not be a surprise to you to learn that real estate sales in Collingwood, Blue Mountain and area last month presented a far rosier picture than we saw one year ago.

Sales in the Georgian Triangle in January, 2010 were up 56% over the same period last year when we were in the depth of the recession.  There were 81 sales reported for January 2010 and 455 new listings representing a decline a just 2% over 12 months ago.

Sales in units have not yet returned to 2008 levels however, the 12 month average sale price continues to climb.  Of particular interest is the number of condominium sales last month which showed a sharp rise compared to the previous two years.  These sales occurred across our area in all price ranges and follow the pattern of buyers moving to condominium living being reported in larger urban centres.

The following information was obtained from the MLS® statistics provided by the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board.  The first number is for January 2010 with January 2009 and 2008 results in brackets:

Total Number of Sales in all areas reported:  81 (52, 111)
Total # of Listings in all areas reported:  455 (462, 454 )
# Active Listings as of January 31: 1695

Single Family Residential Only
(Data is limited to  Collingwood, Clearview, Grey Highlands, Meaford, Blue Mountains and Wasaga Beach areas only):
 
Single Family Residential Sales:  44 (25, 69 )
Average Sale Price:  $293,377 ($290,483, $312,779 )
Sales-to-Listings Ratio: 20% (12%, 33% )

# Condo Sales:  23, (8, 19 )
# Farms Sold:  0
# Vacant Land Sold:  5
# Commercial Sold: 2

Market conditions are much improved over last year and all bets are on this trend continuing through the traditional spring market months as people act to avoid the HST coming into effect on July 1, 2010.

People who are moving to the Georgian Triangle area often ask about school information for the area. 

There are a wide range of choices in the public, separate and private sectors.  The first consideration is which County you will reside in.  Homes located in Grey County (including Blue Mountain, Meaford and Grey Highlands) fall under the Blue Water or Bruce-Grey District while properties in Simcoe County (including Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Stayner and Creemore) fall into the Simcoe District.

Below is a list of options with links to each school website.  As of September, 2010, full-day Kindergarten will also now be offered at Admiral Public School, Clearview Meadows and St. Mary’s.

For those interested in school ratings, two links are provided at the end of this list.  Regardless of what they say, I can tell you that families in each of these schools are fiercely proud and will tell you that theirs is the best!

SIMCOE COUNTY

School Boards:
Public:   Simcoe County District School Board 
Catholic:    Simcoe – Muskoka Catholic District School Board

Extended French Programs offered at the following schools:
Admiral Collingwood
Collingwood Collegiate Institute

Schools in Collingwood:
Admiral Collingwood Elementary School  K – 8
Cameron Street Public School K – 8
Connaught Public School  K – 8
Mountainview Public School  K – 8
St. Mary’s Catholic School  K – 8

Collingwood Collegiate Institute (CCI)  Gr.  9 – 12
Jean Vanier Catholic High School  Gr.  9 – 12

Georgian College

Nottawa:   Nottawa Elementary School  K – 8
Duntroon:   Duntroon Central Public School   JK – 8
Creemore:   Nottawasaga & Creemore Public School  JK – 8

Stayner:
Clearview Meadows Elementary School  K – 8
Byng Public School  K – 8

Stayner Collegiate Institute (SCI)  Gr. 9 – 12

Wasaga Beach

Birchview Dunes Elementary School  K – 8
Worsley Elementary School K- 8
St. Noel Chabanel Catholic School  JK – 8

GREY COUNTY

School Boards
Public:  Bluewater District School Board
Catholic:  Bruce – Grey Catholic District School Board

Extended French Programs offered at the following schools:
Meaford Community School
St. Vincent-Euphrasia Elementary School
Georgian Bay Secondary School

Schools in Thornbury:  Beaver Valley Community School  JK – 8

Meaford:
St. Vincent-Euphrasia Elementary School   JK-5
Meaford Community School  JK – 8

Georgian Bay Secondary School   Gr.  9 – 12

Maxwell:  Osprey Central School JK – 8

Flesherton:  Grey Highlands Secondary School  Gr.  9 – 12

Private Schools:
Clearview Montessori School  Pre-school through Gr. 6
National Ski Academy 
Pretty River Academy Pre-school to Gr. 12
Silvercrest Christian School  JK – 8
Rocklyn Academy Special Needs, Female, Secondary

Check School Ratings and Reports:
Fraser Institute School Performance Reports (Ontario)
Search EQAO School Reports and Test Results

The following information was obtained from the MLS® statistics provided by the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board. They include a summary of data for the following areas only: Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, Blue Mountain, Clearview, Grey Highlands and Meaford. Previous week(s) are in brackets.

Single Family Residential
New Listings: 40 (64, 51,40)
Average List Price: $525,510.48
Range of List Prices: $124,900 – $2,700,000
Number of Sales: 14 (9, 13, 2)
Range of Sale Prices: $113,000 – $480,000

Condominiums
New Listings: 13 (21, 12, 16)
Average List Price: $217,553.85
Range of List Prices: $129,900 – $415,000
Number of Sales: 6 (5, 5, 3)
Range of Sale Prices: $106,000 – $512,000

Vacant Land
New Listings: 13 (9,14, 23)
Number of Sales: 1 (2, 1, 0)
Range of Sale Prices: $27,000.

Number of Prices Changes All Types (down or up): 22

Items of Note:

-the Average List Price (Single Family) may seem high due to 4 properties being listed during this time period between $1,000,000 and $2,700,000
-one vacant land listing sold for more than it’s list price
-one single family residence sold at  it’s list price

I have a super human sense of smell.  While this drives me (and my family, friends and co-workers) crazy at times, it sure does come in handy in the real estate business.  If a house has any musty smell, even hidden in a closet, I’ll usually smell it before my shoes are off at the door.

In my own home, this once resulted in my tearing off a piece of drywall in an interior closet only to find a coffee cup between two sheets of drywall left behind by the contractor.  No one else could smell it but to my nose, it was so musty that I couldn’t sleep at night even one floor away.

Do your windows sweat in the winter?  Have you noticed more static cling when you take clothes out of the dryer?
It is usually in the colder months when we most notice moisture issues in our home.  As cold and warm airs mix at certain points, we may find condensation forming on windows, musty smells or, dry skin and static.  Finding a balance is important as the long term effects on our homes and contents can be significant if left unattended.

One of the most common things I see in houses is mold growing on window ledges.  Often, the seals have failed on the window units themselves allowing cold air in to mix with the warm inside area which creates a perfect breeding ground for mold growth.  Another common issue is the presence of exposed concrete walls in a basement with insufficient heat and air exchange resulting in musty smells and often showing signs of mold growth.

During the heating season, the relative humidity of a home should be in the range of 30 to 50%.  In order to determine this, home owners can buy a fairly inexpensive gadget called a hygrometer which will provide a reading of the relative humidity in your home in various areas.  You can buy either mechanical or electronic versions at most hardware stores for under $50.00.  If you find the balance is off, there can be several reasons and many options for rectify those.

CMHC has an excellent booklet about moisture and air problem signs and remedies.  If you are having issues with either too much or too little humidity in your home, don’t ignore it.  Your health and comfort are important so it’s worth addressing the issues.