Real Ranting: January 2010

I have a good sense of direction, tested in numerous cities around the globe, despite having grown up thinking west was north in Ottawa. (I know!) At the heart of the issue: aside from getting some fun driving lessons in a hot little red Fiat Spider convertible tooling around Rockcliffe (back when it was still a village) I never really drove in Ottawa. I grew up walking all over the downtown core: Centretown, the Glebe, the Market, Golden Triangle, and so I oriented around the Rideau Canal which occurred to me (erroneously) as running east-west. I've got it handled now... don't worry. If you tell me you want sunset views, I won't sell you a place where you'll wake up blinded every morning. I promise! I refuse to give yoga mats out as apologies.

But lately, I've been wondering about my Ottawa real estate colleagues... There's been an awful lot of confusion about the field "fronting on", which you'll see when perusing real estate listings on the multiple listing service (MLS). I find that it's wrong about 50% of the time. Here's why:

This field refers to which side of the street the front of the property abuts, or said another way, the side of the street to which the front of the property is adjacent.

Contrary to popular belief, "fronting on" does NOT describe the direction the property is facing.

Remember there are no dumb questions, just dumb people who won't ask questions. Seriously, don't be shy to ask me your Ottawa real estate curiosities.

Thinking of locking in a mortgage rate while you search for a home? Good news: looks like you've got a few months... or weeks?

The Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1/4 per cent and reiterates *conditional commitment to hold current policy rate until the end of the second quarter of 2010.

*Conditional on the outlook for inflation, the target overnight rate can be expected to remain at its current level until the end of the second quarter of 2010 in order to achieve the inflation target.

The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is March 2nd, 2010. So if you're thinking of taking the first step in the purchase of a home, speaking with a lender about mortgage pre-approval (and locking in a mortgage interest rate for 90 or 120 days), the good news is that it looks like you've timed it right!

If you're considering listing your home in February/March to benefit from the hot spring market, then good news for you too, as (a) you're likely purchasing somewhere else, and will need a mortgage, and (b) you'll have motivated buyers who want to take advantage of the continued low cost of borrowing.

News to consider:

• Economic growth in Canada resumed in the third quarter of 2009 and is expected to have picked up further in the fourth quarter.
• The Bank projects that the economy will grow by 2.9 per cent in 2010 and 3.5 per cent in 2011, after contracting by 2.5 per cent in 2009.
• The private sector should become the sole driver of domestic demand growth in 2011.

Highlights from the Bank's outlook for the economy and inflation:

• the outlook for global growth is somewhat stronger than in October,
• recovery is also under way in Canada, but considerable excess supply remains,
• the Canadian economy is expected to return to full capacity in Q3 2011.

The Bank's outlook, including risks to the projection, is published in the Monetary Policy Report, released yesterday; click here for the 4-page summary: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/mpr/pdf/2010/mprsumjan10.pdf.

Source: Bank of Canada Press Release January 19th, 2010. For full details, click here: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/fixed-dates/2010/rate_190110.html

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