The Bank of Canada kept its trend-setting Bank Rate at 1.25 per cent on January 17th, 2012. This marks the 11th consecutive policy meeting in which borrowing costs have been left unchanged.

While recognizing that the outlook for the global economy had deteriorated and that uncertainty had increased since it released its October Monetary Policy Report (MPR), the Bank also made those same observations at its previous meeting on December 6th.

Economic growth in Canada had more momentum in the second half of 2011 than the Bank projected in its October MPR, but it expects the pace going forward to slow by more modest than previously expected, due largely to factors outside Canadian borders. This reiterates statements made in December 2011. On the upside, the Bank said that “very favourable financing conditions are expected to buttress consumer spending and housing activity.”

…very favourable financing conditions are expected to buttress consumer spending and housing activity.The Bank releases its updated forecast for Canadian economic growth. It now estimates that the economy grew by 2.4 per cent in 2011 compared to the initial estimate of 2.1 per cent, owing to the better than expected end to the year.

The Bank projects growth of 2.0 per cent in 2012 compared to 1.9 per cent in the October MPR, and 2.8 per cent in 2013, down slightly from the previous 2013 forecast of 2.9 per cent, with the big picture being that past and current growth estimates have been revised upward at the expense of future economic growth.

“The Bank said it expects the pace of growth going forward to moderate by more than initially thought, but the forecast for growth this year has actually been raised slightly,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “That reflects a weaker than previously expected growth profile for the first half of 2012, followed by an acceleration in the second half of the year.”

“The Bank reiterated that its outlook remains subject to downside risks from the sovereign debt issue in Europe. Recent credit-rating downgrades to much of the euro zone point to potential contagion by way of a drop in financial market liquidity,” he added. “The bottom line is that the Bank rate is not going to be going up anytime soon, and we may see rates lowered should downside risks materialize.”

The Bank noted that “while the economy appears to be operating with less slack than previously assumed, it is only anticipated to return to full capacity by the third quarter of 2013, one quarter earlier than was expected in October.” Overall, inflation expectations remain “well-anchored.”

A number of financial institutions have recently dropped their five-year lending rates to a record low of 2.99 per cent. This is down considerably from the advertised five-year rate of 5.29 per cent when the Bank last met on December 6th, 2011.

The Bank will make its next scheduled rate announcement on March 8th, 2012.

A national report predicts average house prices in Calgary will increase by 3.6 per cent this year.

The Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast, released Thursday, said a vibrant local economy and low interest rates will drive demand for homes in the city in 2012.

It expects Calgary to post some of the highest year-over-year price increases in Canada.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, detached bungalows in Calgary posted the largest year-over-year price increases, rising 6.2 per cent to $416,622. Prices for standard two-storey homes rose 2.2 per cent year-over-year to $414,778, while prices for standard condominiums were flat, rising slightly 0.1 per cent year-over-year to $248,567.

“The modest year-over-year gains we saw in the fourth quarter conceal a strengthening market in Calgary,” said Ted Zaharko, broker and owner of Royal LePage Foothills, in a statement. “A vibrant local economy combined with continued low interest rates has Calgary poised to be one of Canada’s strongest real estate markets.”

The modest year-over-year gains we saw in the fourth quarter conceal a strengthening market in Calgary.He said low interest rates combined with a lack of homes for sale helped create upward pricing pressure and led to frequent multiple offer situations as the year drew to a close.

Zaharko said first-time buyers looking to take advantage of low rates were an active group in the fourth quarter of 2011. Retirees looking to downsize were also an active group and drove demand for the city’s detached bungalows.

According to Royal LePage, by the end of 2012, average house prices in Calgary are expected to increase 3.6 per cent. Market activity is forecast to be the strongest in Canada with 2012 unit sales expected to rise 10.6 per cent higher than they were in 2011. At the national level, in the fourth quarter of 2011, standard two-storey homes rose 4.2 per cent year-over-year to $375,427, while detached bungalows increased 6.1 per cent to $344,392. Average prices for standard condominiums increased 3.6 per cent to $234,680.

Royal LePage expects average price growth to continue through 2012 and predicts national average prices to increase by 2.8 per cent by the end of the year.

The second phase of boutique-style apartments and townhomes in Copperfield, Copperfield Park by Brad Remington Homes, recently launched to an immensely positive response.

“The first phase of our apartment-style condos is sold out and the launch of the second phase went really well,” says Bryan Logel, sales manager for Copperfield Park.

“With our exclusive townhomes, we have only three remaining in the first phase.

“We are ahead of schedule in terms of sales and the first building is in the framing stages. The response to our homes has been great.”

We spend months going over every model, looking at all the details and integrating these into the new design. Perhaps the reason behind Copperfield Park’s success is the fact that the apartments have something for everyone, with a range of sizes and an affordable price point.

Apartments range in size from 624 sq. ft. to just less than 970 sq. ft., with two or three bedrooms.

Of the 254 units, the majority will be well-appointed apartments with the remaining units making up the townhomes.

“The three-bedroom townhomes include a garage and a private driveway to allow room for additional parking.” Logel says.

“Each of these has beautiful exteriors and interiors and faces onto Copperpond Park.

“One of the most important features that gives Copperfield Park its timeless flavour is the classically designed architecture, with brick and premium siding on the exterior. There are oversized windows and great attention to detail that lends to beautiful curb appeal and character to the homes.”

The floor plans take advantage of every square food, giving each home the best value possible.

“We spend months going over every model, looking at all the details and integrating these into the new design,” he says. “I believe we’ve achieved a plan that really works for homeowners.”

The bedrooms accommodate queen- or king-sized beds, while the user-friendly kitchens include a great deal of cabinet space and room for a full-sized island and dining room table.

Attached balconies and patios are large enough for outdoor entertaining.

“Situated in Copperfield, a master-planned community, is really important to the lifestyle that comes with the homes,” Logel says.

“The developer, Hopewell Residential Communities, is famous for their fantastic communities.”

The proximity to 52 St. and 130 Ave. means that residents have incredibly quick access to shopping along 130 Ave., as well as McKenzie Towne.

Quick access to Stoney Tr., Deerfoot Tr. and Hwy. 22X means that access into and out of the city is easy.

“Our focus was not just for a home that looks good, but that was affordable, as well,” he says.

“Our apartments start at $140,000, with three-bedroom apartments starting at $170,000 and townhomes starting at $239,000. This presale pricing will continue until our showsuites are completed in March.”

It appears Calgary is entering the Age of the Condo Phase Three.

The first phase occurred back in the late 1970s, when a federal government tax relief program resulted in tens of thousands of apartments (mostly rental) being built in the city.

The second phase came with the boom and was a bit of a failure. From 2005 to 2007, thousands of new condo-apartments were started, with about 10,000 under construction at one time. Most of those were purchased — well, more accurately, had down-payments placed on them — by speculators who didn’t foresee the boom busting, which it did, resulting in many high-rise projects being cancelled or mothballed until economic conditions improved.

Welcome to Phase Three, brought on by a number of factors, not the least of which are affordability and location.

This phase is new to the sensibilities of most Calgary home buyers, who prefer single-family homes in the suburbs, but it is a phase familiar in Canada’s two largest cities, Vancouver and Toronto, and will become more familiar here, following a national trend, says Elton Ash, regional executive vice-president, Re/Max of Western Canada.

“Condominiums have changed the urban landscape, driving residential neighbourhoods up, instead of out, and bringing to market a bevy of new options from mixed-use residential, live-work studios, lofts, townhomes and condo bungalows,” says Ash.

“Canada’s cities have … mounted ambitious renewals of their own, particularly in the heart of most major centres — the urban core. Strategic, smart growth plans are altering cityscapes, challenging our concepts and perceptions, including our purchasing patterns.”

Condominiums have changed the urban landscape, driving residential neighbourhoods up, instead of out, and bringing to market a bevy of new options…While proponents of these prescriptive growth plans will take credit for the ‘urbanization’ of Calgary, the truth is it’s because condominiums are more affordable than single-family homes, the commute times from the suburbs to downtown have been engineered to be long and tedious and, in my opinion, Calgary is getting a different kind of newcomer moving here.

Rather than our more traditional ‘supply’ of new Calgarians from the wide-open spaces of Saskatchewan, we are seeing more people from built-up centres crossing our borders and they are more attuned to condominium living in an urban setting.

While the share of condominium sales on MLS in Calgary has been in the 30% range for the last three years, it is increasing in the new home market, which will eventually lead to a similar increase in resale.

To the end of October, the City of Calgary has issued building permits for 3,037 condos and 1,031 town-houses, up dramatically from permits for 834 condos and 659 towns in the same time frame last year.

With other major projects on the planning boards, particularly in the East Village, those numbers will see big increases in the next six to nine months.

The resurgence could bring money back into the market that has been AWOL for the last three years.

“With construction of rental product few and far between in many Canadian centres, it’s no surprise that investors have also been particularly active in the condominium market, especially in college/university towns or where vacancy rates remain tight,” says Ash.

That’s fine, as long as the motto for Phase Three is “investment, not speculation.”

Thank you to the Myke Thomas, of the Calgary Sun for this article.

There are so many home financing product choices these days, it can be hard to make an informed decision so it’s always good to have a greater understanding of the products and how they can work for you.

The two main types of home financing products available are mortgages and home equity lines of credit.

Mortgages can be fixed or variable rate, but your payments always include principal and interest.

Typically their life (amortization) is between 20 and 30 years. And most people choose conventional mortgages because they want to know when they will no longer have any debt on their home.

There is the comfort of knowing what your payment is in case of any changes to your life.

One thing people sometimes forget is that there are flexible repayment privileges that can be an advantage, but most people will never exceed these annual pre-payment limits (which typically range between 15% and 20%, depending on the product).

Mortgages also only require a minimum downpayment of 5% and depending on your downpayment, you may also be required to pay mortgage loan insurance.

A home equity line of credit is a combination of a mortgage and a secured line of credit and may be the right fit for borrowers who want some of their debt on a strict repayment schedule while having additional funds available as they need it.

As an example, you’re approved for a $200,000 home equity line of credit, but decide you want $100,000 in a mortgage. This mortgage portion would have a life and set payment. The remaining $100,000 would operate as a secured line of credit against your home. As you pay off your mortgage, those funds become accessible through the secured line of credit.

Home equity lines of credit are very useful for the more disciplined borrower, as it gives you access to cash.

It allows you to repay the mortgage on your schedule, giving you the flexibility to decide. But a home equity line of credit also requires you to have at least a 20% down-payment or equity in your home.

Thank you to the Calgary Sun for this article.

Big “thank you” to Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes.com for this article.

During the run-up to every U.S. presidential election, countless Americans threaten to move to Canada if their preferred candidate does not emerge victorious. Of course, few follow through with a move north. Maybe it is time to reconsider.

Canada ranks No. 1 in our annual look at the Best Countries for Business. While the U.S. is paralyzed by fears of a double-dip recession and Europe struggles with sovereign debt issues, Canada’s economy has held up better than most. The $1.6 trillion economy is the ninth biggest in the world and grew 3.1% last year. It is expected to expand 2.4% in 2011, according to the Royal Bank of Canada.

Canada skirted the banking meltdown that plagued the U.S. and Europe. Banks like Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal avoided bailouts and were profitable during the financial crises that started in 2007. Canadian banks emerged from the tumult among the strongest in the world thanks to their conservative lending practices.

Canada is the only country that ranks in the top 20 in 10 metrics that we considered to determine the Best Countries for Business (we factored in 11 overall). It ranks in the top five for both investor protection as well as lack of red tape, which measures how easy it is to start a business.

Canada #1Canadian banks emerged from the tumult among the strongest in the world thanks to their conservative lending practices. Canada moves up from No. 4 in last year’s ranking thanks to its improved tax standing. It ranks ninth overall for tax burden compared to No. 23 in 2010. Credit a reformed tax structure with a Harmonized Sales Tax introduced in Ontario and British Columbia in 2010. The goal is to make Canadian businesses more competitive. Canada’s tax status also improved thanks to reduced corporate and employee tax rates.

Canada leans on the U.S. economy heavily: it’s the biggest oil supplier to Uncle Sam and three-quarters of its exports end up in the U.S. each year. Yet while U.S. unemployment has stayed above 9%, it’s only 7.3% in Canada compared to the 25-year average of 8.5%. The eurozone unemployment rate is 10%.

We determined the Best Countries for Business by looking at 11 different factors for 134 countries. We considered property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom (personal, trade and monetary), red tape, investor protection and stock market performance.

Forbes leaned on research and published reports from the Central Intelligence Agency, Freedom House, Heritage Foundation, Property Rights Alliance, Transparency International, the World Bank and World Economic Forum to compile the rankings.

Canada in Top 5Canada is the only country that ranks in the top 20 in 10 metrics that we considered to determine the Best Countries for Business (we factored in 11 overall). It ranks in the top five for both investor protection as well as lack of red tape, which measures how easy it is to start a business. Denmark dropped from the top spot in 2010 to No. 5 this year as its relative monetary freedom declined as measured by the Heritage Foundation. Denmark’s stock market also fell 14%, which was the worst performance of any of our top 10 countries. Four other European countries in last year’s top 20 also dropped in the rankings, with Finland sliding to No. 13, the Netherlands to No. 15 Netherlands, Germany to No. 21 and Iceland to No. 23.

The U.S. ranked No. 10, down from No. 9 in 2010. The world’s largest economy at $14.7 trillion continues to be one of the most innovative, ranking sixth in patents per capita among all countries (No.7 overall Sweden ranks tops for innovation).

What hurts the U.S. is its heavy tax burden. This year it surpassed Japan to have the highest corporate tax rate among developed countries. The U.S. also gets dinged for a poor showing on monetary freedom as measured by the Heritage Foundation. Heritage gauges price stability and price controls and the U.S. ranks No. 50 out of 134 countries.

Bringing up the rear are three countries where the economies are smaller than $10 billion. No. 132 Burundi, No. 133 Zimbabwe and No. 134 Chad all fare poorly when it comes to trade and monetary freedom as well as innovation and technology. Chad has the highest GDP per capita of the three at $1,600, but scores last among all countries on both corruption and red tape.

On September 28, Calgary Economic Development and TD Bank Group presented the annual Economic Outlook event featuring Craig Alexander, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for TD Bank Group and Mario Lefebvre, Director of the Centre for Municipal Studies at the Conference Board of Canada.

Calgarians were the first in Canada to hear Craig Alexander present TD Economics’ 2012 Alberta forecast – Risk & Volatility: Economic and Financial Perspectives for 2012, and Mario Lefebvre presented the Conference Board of Canada’s 2012 Economic Outlook for Calgary.

View Video Presentation

On Saturday September 17 we are launching the second phase of Copperfield Park. The launch will consist of special pricing on one, two, and three bedroom condos. We will be taking reservations on Saturday September 17 from 12:00 to 5:00pm at the Copperfield Condo Store which will ensure you get our special pricing.

We have made it extremely easy to reserve the condo of your choice. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Visit the Condo Store on Saturday September 17.
2. Choose the floor plan and design that fits your lifestyle and budget.
3. Reserve the condo of choice with a $500.00 deposit (this holds the condo for you until your formal sales appointment).
4. Make an appointment to finalize your purchase.

In Phase 2 we will be offering:

• Two bedroom condos from $140’s (+gst).
• Two bedroom / 2 bath condos from the $170’s (+gst).
• Three bedroom / 2 bath condos from the $170’s (+gst) (includes an underground stall).
• Premium corner, 2 bedroom / 2 bath condos from the low $200’s (+gst).
• Titled parking with each home.

These homes feature classically designed architecture and have high quality standard specifications such as:

• Must see exteriors with brilliant colors and full brick treatments.
• Individually titled parking stalls (the majority are climate controlled).
• Six appliances including over the counter microwave hood fans.
• Large open concept, tailored fit interiors with king or queen sized bedrooms (see plans).
• Full sized kitchens and a ensuite or bathroom with every bedroom (plan specific).
• High quality materials and all of our interiors are customizable.
• AAA suburban location in Hopewell’s master planned community of Copperfield, close to BRT, shopping, the new South Hospital, the future ring road, Marquis of Lorne Trail (Hwy 22x) and Deerfoot Trail South.
• Legal fees included.
• Only 5% down for owner occupied purchasers!

There is no catch! The low prices are not just for one or two models. Actually, 50% of phase two is priced under $190,000.00, including GST! If you know of someone who is looking for an opportunity like this, please pass this on. All they have to do is complete our Guest Registration Form and then come in and see us on Saturday September 17. All registrants prior to our home store opening will receive the special pre-sale pricing.

This development is for people that are looking for an affordable high quality home to live in. The developer reserves the right to limit the amount of homes sold to “investors.”

If you’d like any more information please don’t hesitate to contact Bryan Logel at 403-257-0271, or email Bryan at moc.krapdleifreppocnull@legolnayrb.

If you are in the market for a high quality condominium at an amazing price, don’t delay! With as little as 5% down you can be on your way to home ownership.

Included in every home are high quality standards like these:

• Rain Screen building envelope exterior construction.
• Sound attenuation privacy construction practices.
• Six standard appliances; over-the-range microwave, fridge, stove, built-in dishwasher, hood-fan, washer and dryer.
• Richly detailed exteriors including; brick, premium siding, and decorative metal flower boxes.
• Titled parking stall (most are underground) and storage unit.
• Open, contemporary floor plan designs.
• Individual patios.
• Legal fees for title and disbursements.
• Alberta New Home Warranty.

Check out these four fantastic examples:

• Second floor C plan – $179,900 + GST
• Third floor C1 plan – $186,900+ GST
• Third floor C3 plan – $188,900+ GST
• Top floor C plan – $186,900+ GST (9 foot ceilings)

Come visit the Sales Centre Monday to Thursday 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., weekends and holidays 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. for additional information.

Hope to see you soon.