Canada Day checklist:

http://canadaonline.about.com/od/canadaday/a/canadachecklist.htm

Mortgage holders across the country should raise a happy birthday toast to the Canada Housing Trust and its Canada Mortgage Bond (CMB) program.

The CMB program quietly celebrated its ten-year anniversary this past week by selling another round of bonds to a world-wide market that would have happily bought more (the issue was 1.4 times oversubscribed, meaning there was $1,400 of investor money lined up to buy every $1,000 Canada Mortgage Bond unit available). In the same week that Greek 5-year government bonds soared past 20%, the CMB program issued $6 billion worth of its bonds at a yield of 2.549%. This program, which now has $285 billion in bonds outstanding, is the single biggest reason why Canadian borrowers enjoy some of the lowest mortgage rates on the planet. Here’s a brief description of how the program works:

Lenders must first be approved by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in order to pool and sell their mortgage loans to the Canada Housing Trust (CHT). These pooled loans, called Mortgage-backed Securities, are then converted by CHT into Canada Mortgage Bonds (CMBs). That’s the magic step because now these bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the federal government, and as such, investors will accept yields only marginally higher than those offered on Government of Canada bonds. (The CMB program provides other benefits as well, such as reduced capital requirements and increased liquidity, but that requires a more detailed explanation in a future post.)

Fixed-mortgage rates were unchanged for the week but in the background, Government of Canada (GOC) yields took us on quite a ride. They jumped 8 basis points (bps) on Tuesday, dove by more than 13 bps on Wednesday, and finished the week down about 7 bps overall. We’re still in choppy waters but, for the time being, the momentum arrow for fixed-rate mortgages is still pointing down.

For the third week in a row, the qualifying rate used for variable-rate mortgages (called the MQR) was lowered by 10 bps to 5.39%. The belief that variable rates will be on hold for longer than previously thought gained another adherent, with Craig Alexander, Chief Economist at TD, revising his previous estimates.

The bottom line: A healthy CMB program that enjoys broad-based support with plenty of international participation (about a third  of the latest issue was bought by foreign investors) will help keep our lenders liquid, and our mortgage rates competitive. Cheers to that.

David Larock is an independent mortgage planner and industry insider specializing in helping clients purchase, refinance or renew their mortgages. David’s posts appear weekly on this blog (movesmartly.com) and on his own blog (integratedmortgageplanners.com/blog). Email Dave

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www.thelittlepaper.com

Here are our best picks for the weekend ahead. We sure hope there are wading pools, freezies and some good family times in the works. After a stellar game of grown-ups-on-stilts against kids-on-feet soccer, we’re gathering lane way stories for our next issue and would love to hear about ways in which you, your family and your neighbours use your alley – send us a note or visit us on facebook ! And, if you are looking for even more inspiration check out the website for Festivals, Father’s Day events, Farmer’s Markets and more…
SATURDAY
Tea Party and Craft for Father’s Day
High Park Family Fun Place

They Might be Giants Family Concert
David Pecaut Square

Toronto Horse Day
The Horse Palace, Exhibition Place

Toronto Island Tree Festival
Franklin Children’s Garden, Centre Island

Yonge-Lawrence Village Day Street Festival
Lawrence Ave to Yonge Blvd

SUNDAY

Festival on Bloor
Bloor, Spadina to Bathurst

Music in the Orchard
Spadina Museum

Outdoor Guided Walk: Goat’s-beard, Dame’s Rocket and Anemones
Todmorden Mills Heritage Museum & Arts Centre

Art in the Park
Neilson Park Creative Centre

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

Movie: Hop
Fox Theatre

The Muppet Movie
Revue Cinema

The Three Little Pigs
Solar Stage Children’s Theatre

http://www.movesmartly.com/

A summary of what is in the above mentioned link:

Toronto Real Estate Roundup May 13th 2011
Posted: 13 May 2011 05:50 AM PDT
John Pasalis in Real Estate Roundup

CREA raises forecast

Strong sales of multi-million dollar homes in Vancouver have led the Canadian Real Estate Association to hike their forecast for the year.  Average prices are expected to rise 4% to $352,500, a significant increase over the previous forcast of a 1.3% increase in prices.

Realtors raise forecast (Toronto Star)

CREA hikes forecast for home prices (Globe and Mail)

CREA’s 2011 forecast: A history (Steve Ladurantaye)

Other Real Estate News

Housing construction not too hot, not too cold – pdf (TD Economics)

A Redesigned Urban Toronto (Torontoist)

No new mortgage rule changes: Flaherty (National Post)

Home ownership isn’t for everyone (CTV)

Rosy outlook raises housing prices (Toronto Star)

Some homeowners at mortgage tipping point (Toronto Star)

The battle is on to save the Fort York bridge (Globe and Mail)

Got a mortgage question? Ask us (Globe and Mail)

John Pasalis is the Broker Owner of Realosophy Realty Inc in Toronto. Realosophy focuses on researching Toronto neighbourhoods to help their clients make smarter real estate decisions. Email John