In a survey of 325 cities throughout the world, Vancouver won second place for the world’s most expensive housing market.

The survey utilizes an affordability scale that factors in a city’s median home price along with the median pretax household income.

Hong Kong is at the top of the scale at12.6.  Vancouver falls at number 2 on the list at 10.6.

Want more affordable housing?  In the US the winning cities are:

Detroit  1.4
Atlanta  1.9
Phoenix  2.2

In Canada?   Edmonton ranked at at respectable and affordable 3.5.

Over the past two years almost every time Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty and Bank of Canada President,  Mark Carney have issued a press release or spoken on camera they have been warning Canadians about their growing levels of  consumer debt.

There is finally some good news. Apparently some Canadians have started listening.

According to Equifax the average credit card debt fell in 2011 by 3.4 per cent.

It’s important to note that this drop is in credit card debt. Other types of consumer debt are still at record high levels.

Nadim Abdo, vice-president of consulting and analytical services for Equifax Canada cautions …

 ”Although this appears to be a good news story for Canada, there remains some concerns about the high level of debt Canadians carry on average. The main concern is how the Canadian economy may react to stressed global markets while our GDP is projected to grow at a very marginal rate in 2012. Canadians are at record-high levels of indebtedness with little room to maneuver. If there is to be another financial crisis, we can expect losses from serious delinquencies and bankruptcies.”

Equifax.ca  provides consumer and commercial information solutions including credit reports.
Read the Equifax news release here:
Vast Improvement in Consumer Debt According to Equifax Canada-but Sustainability is a Concern

Find out more more about the report and what other experts are saying:

CTV News:  Canadians handling credit card debt better: Equifax

Globe and Mail:   Debt still rising, but Canadians better at paying credit cards: Equifax

We are thrilled to announce our new Mobile website!

A number of months back, we noticed that an increasing amount of traffic was accessing our website via mobile devices and browsers, so we decided to create a mobile version of our site.

We discovered that building a mobile website was easier said than done.

There are dozens of different mobile browsers including iPhone, Blackberry, Android and many others.

Additionally there are over 10,000 different cell phones with different screen sizes and differing capabilities.

In the end we tried to achieve a middle ground that hopefully looks great on most phones.

Reducing our huge content rich site down to just the basics was another challenge. Once again we looked at the site statistics  to see what our visitors looked at most.

In addition to our contact information and our about-us page,  it turns out that one of our top pages is our mortgage rates page.

We squeezed the information from the rates page into a miniaturized version and included a link to our mortgage calculator app so that our customers can do mortgage payment calculations on the fly.

So whether you are sitting at your computer, looking for your next home, or running around the city, we are easily accessible and only a phone call away.

To access us via your mobile … simply go to averbachmortgages.com (your phone should automatically detect our mobile site. You can also visit  the mobile site directly at m.averbachmortgages.com

Your credit score is a number which potential creditors use to determine if and how you will pay your debt. Your credit score is calculated using your credit history. When you apply for a mortgage, lenders use your credit history and score to make their decisions.

Scores range from 300 to 950.  If you get a score of 750 or above you’ll qualify for the best loan rates and terms. If you get 620 or lower, you’ll pay higher rates IF you qualify. The absolute minimum credit score for insured mortgages is 620.

In determining a credit score, a number of factors in your bill-paying history are considered:

Payment history – approximately 35%

Do you pay your bills? Tardy or missed payments, collections, and especially bankruptcies all affect your payment history. If you have not paid bills in the past, but are paying on time now, this will be factored into the equation.

Credit utilization – approximately 30%

Credit utilization involves the amount of debt you currently have in comparison to the credit you have available. The higher your credit utilization, the lower your credit score will be. Keep your credit card balances at less than 30% of your credit limit.  For example, if you have a total limit of $20,000 on your credit cards, you need to keep the balances under $6000.

Credit history – approximately 15%

The longer your credit history the better.  Don’t close credit cards or bank accounts that you’ve had for a long time.

Credit History Inquiries – approximately 10%

Every time you apply for for credit, the inquiry is added to your credit report. Too many applications put up a warning flag to lenders.  For example, if you are shopping for a mortgage with a number of banks and finance companies each one will request your credit history.  *One of the benefits of working with a Mortgage Broker is the fact that we only ask for your credit history ONCE!

Only those inquiries made in the past year are part of the credit score calculation.

Mix of credit – approximately 10%

Though this isn’t a significant part of the equation, having a mix of different types of credit is a good thing.  For example credit cards, personal bank loans, and a car loan show a range of credit situations that include installment and revolving credit.

Make sure you have at least one credit card as soon as you are eligible, but don’t take out other loans just to improve your credit score!

If you are applying for a mortgage with us, we will request your Credit Score.  We can discuss the results with you and let you know if you need to improve your score and how to do it.

Call Justin at  604-736-1855

Get the Most from Your Financing with a Mortgage Check Up

Have you thought about your mortgage lately? Your financial picture can change significantly over time, and having the right mortgage strategy is an important part of making sure your financial needs and goals are met.

A personalized mortgage check up is an easy, no-obligation way to:

• ensure that your repayment approach suits you, for example with payments structured to maximize mortgage principal reduction,
• ensure any consumer debt you may have (such as credit card balances) is transferred to a lower interest rate,
• ensure you have access to the lowest-cost funds for renovations, education or other major expenditures.

Common reasons for a mortgage check up:

• You are planning to have children
• You want to explore your investment options
• You or your spouse have had a change in employment
• You are looking to start or buy a business
• You would like to renovate your home
• You would like the assurance of fixing your mortgage payments
• You are trying hard to manage your payments
• You can’t remember the last time you assessed your home financing strategy

Thank you to our good friends at Invis for this really great checklist.  Please give us a call and we will provide expert, unbiased advice to first time homebuyers as well as those looking to renew or refinance their mortgage, purchase investment properties, or consolidate debts.   604-736-1855

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The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Housing Market Update for October 2011 with REBGV president Rosario Setticasi.

In this short video (2:47) Setticasi explains what took place in the Vancouver housing market over the past month.  If you are interested in finding out whether the market is going up, down or sideways Setticasi has all the charts and graphs you need to figure out what is happening.

For more news and statistics visit us at http://www.rebgv.org