Posts Tagged ‘canada’

Winnipeg Realty Search

Sunday, July 26th, 2009

Searching online for real estate in Canada is a far different experience than searching for real estate in the U.S. If you are looking for Winnipeg real estate, for instance, you will find that up-to-date Winnipeg real estate listings are hard to find on the Internet. The best way to get the most accurate and current listings is to contact a Winnipeg real estate agent, because they have access to the most recent data.

Many agents do not like to link to live MLS listings, because broker reciprocity agreements in Canada place the listing broker’s contact information on the listing. This increases the likelihood that the listing agent would get the phone call from a potential buyer rather than the agent who linked to the MLS in the first place. The system is weighted in favor of real estate listing agents, which tends to discourage buyers agents from promoting other agents’ listings.

The information available to the public on the official “Realtor.ca” site are not 100% up-to-date as well, meaning most searchers are better off simply contacting a real estate agent from the start. This way, you’ll be looking only at current listings, and not wasting your time on outdated information.

About the Winnipeg area

Winnipeg is located in Manitoba, Canada. It is the largest city in the province, with more than half the Manitoba population living in the municipality. Located near “The Forks” - which is named after the convergence of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers - the city has a population of more than 720,000 people who call it home.

Winnipeg weather

Before buying real estate in Winnipeg, most people want to know what the weather is like in the region. While Winnipeg residents, who refer to themselves as “Winnipegers,” jokingly call the city “Winterpeg” because of the long winter, it also is a sunny climate — in fact, it’s the 6th sunniest city in Canada year-round. Though winter lows can get as low as minus 9 degrees F in January (not taking into account wind chill), they do go back to the balmy mid to high seventies in early summer.

Winnipeg neighborhoods

While there are over 200 neighborhoods in Winnipeg, the most popular are:

  • The Waterfront District
  • The Forks
  • Central Park
  • Broadway-Assiniboine
  • Exchange District
  • Chinatown

For more information on Winnipeg homes or searching for up-to-the-minute Winnipeg real estate listings, please see a Winnipeg real estate agent who is an expert in all the region has to offer.

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Price and real estate market

Wednesday, July 15th, 2009

Have you ever thought about the reasons for the changes in property prices? In the followoing article, I will cover the main reasons for the property prices´ shifts. This knowledge has been gained from over two decades working as a realtor.

How can one forcast the next price move? How does one determine when it is best to invest? The majority of buyers will keep their eyes on the previous direction of prices. One can say that the expectations of buyers, in fact, get mostly influenced by previous movements. If the prices increased they expect the growth to continue, and vice versa. Unfortunately, this method is not connected to important factors that influence the price, yet it is practiced. When one relies too heavily on such a method, the result may be greatly disappointing, as could be seen not too long ago.

Which economic factors in principle is then responsible for making the price?
- Economic growth
- Nominal interest rates (before inflation) and structure of mortgage products
- Inflation
Let’s look at these factors in more detail.

The stronger the state of economics, the better it is for business not to mention real estate. One of the reasons is that when economics is stronger it raises property prices because the buyer gets reassured that there will be a rise in the demand for housing, including a rise in the value of his property which will enable him to sell it again for a profit. When considering the BIS Quartely Review, it indicates that a 1% rise of GNP is linked with 1% to 4% rise of property price after 3 years.

In order that property prices grow, the first thing needed is eager buyers. One implication of the fact that house lones have to be arranged when anyone wants to buy property, is that there will be many buyers who will go rather for houses with interesting mortgage products that includes low nominal rates. In accordance with the same source, a decrease of just 1% in the nominal interest rate is equal to 1/2% to 1% of property prices increase after 1 year. Buyers are also extremely sensitive to any sort of drop in the nominal interest rate and for this reason property prices settle. But there are exceptions to the rule. For instance - a credit crunch occurs when official interest rates become of less importance and the loan market gets driven by different factors. It concerns the real estate market as well.

Inflation influences changes in the level of interest rates and at the same time the interest rate strongly impacts property prices. When inflation is high it affects each country in a different way. Countries that percieve investing into property as balancing the inflation, will have their property prices increased by higher inflation (for example Germany). These countries are characterized by fixed interest rate loans without equity withdrawal. On the contrary, high inflation has a negative effect on property prices in countries by either floating interest rates like the UK, or fixed interest rates with equity withdrawal, for example the USA.

Rules can not always be strictly applied and numbers and values may not always have any bearing on your disctrict. The realtor has got to see the exceptions and differences. It is, however, important to realize that there exists a general system by which real estate prices are created on the market. Do not be trapped by shallow attitude. It is necessary to take in all aspects connected with the market.

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