In Christina Blizzard’s comment page in the Toronto sun of Feb. 23/10 she asks the question ” How much will the new HST. cost consummers. According to the Ministry of finance the HST will ad $ 100.00 to the average electrical bill and for natural gas $ 125.00. Because of new promising discoveries in Canada and the United States it appears that Natural Gas prices should remain constant, at least for a few more years. However, as the Ontario government pushes for more solar and wind power as a source for more of our electricity,(at a subsidized rate) and our nuclear power generation has to be replaced and expanded our electricity costs will be increasing as will the subsequent HST.
 We can be proactive with our homes and investment properties. Although the Federal Government grants for renovations are not going to be renewed, there are still great programs for energy efficent upgrades and improvements including windows/doors insulation and hi-efficency furnaces. Go to my web site , log on to my blog and click on the link to CMHC and go to the consumer section. You can check out the grants from the Provincial and Federal governments. If you live in the Peterborough region check out Peterborough Greenup or the Energuy.
 Jay Leno has taken action to almost eliminate any electrical costs associated with his garage. As you may not know, Jay has one of the great auto/bike collections in North America, and all the restoration work is done in his shop. Auto garages, dealerships and body repair shops consume huge amounts of electricity and energy. By using solar power he has reduced his costs He is now having a magnetic wind turbine installed which is engineered and built by Enviro Energies of Grimsby Ontario. For a fascinating look at his collection and shop go to www.Jay Leno’s Garage.com and to see a video of this wind turbine,scroll down the right side of the Home Page to ” Green Garage ” and to the Magnetic Turbine link.
 See there are ways to save energy and beat the ” Taxman”

According to a report today by Tony Wong in the Toronto Star Business section Re/Max Ontario Atlantic,reports that the G.T.A. leads Canada when it comes to the lack of listings on the Real Estate Market. This is contributing to the upward pressure on prices, something that I have previously written about in several of my blogs.
 In the GTA there were 41 % fewer listings for sale in January 2010 than the previous year. Across Canada 81 % if the markets in the survey showed a marked decrease in the number of listings  In Ontario, Kitchener/Waterloo had 33 % fewer listings and Ottawa had 30 %. Out on the west coast Vancouver was down 27 %. How about our local Peterborough On. market, Active listings in 2009 were 1850 listings and in 2010, only 1414 listings or down 24%.
 This, then drives the consumer to the new home/condo market were sales in the GTA were up in January 2010 over 2009 a spectacular 237%. Talk about a bubble! well not exactly, January 2009 was going to be the year from hell and the world as we new it was going to come crashing down. so lets compare this year to January 2008 and sales are only up 11%. And as we should all remember we in Peterborough had a very cold and snowy 2008.
 If you are considering a move the facts show that in southern Ontario we are for the moment in a “Sellers Market”

Real Estate sales in Ontario just got another boost thanks to Minister Flaherty’s changes to New and renewed mortgages as announced yesterday. We were expecting sales to remain strong this spring in Peterborough and area as the HST goes into effect on July 2nd. Building permits issued in the City of Peterborough were just under 500 units for 2009 which is close to the numbers in 2005 to 2007. The builders are getting ready for a very busy spring and to have units completed before the July 2nd deadline.
 As I have written in previous blogs sellers have taken advantage of the low number of listings and low interest rates to sell their properties before the July date and the new HST. which will impact our commissions, inspections and legal fees.
Now another stimulus for the market are the changes to Mortgages, this will make for a busy spring market. Many experts expect the fall market to return to a more ” Normal ” sales rate and for some relief on price increases.
 Further to my article today, there is a very good video today in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business that explains many of the details that I have been writing about recently.
Video Link

The Finance department and the Finance Minister Jim Flaherty have definately put a damper on speculators who were partly responsible for a adding to the ” Real Estate Bubble ” Speculators make their money on leveraging their money on putting as little down as possible, and flipping out as soon as possible. They could care less about the rent roll or the general condition of the building.
 The decision to increase the down payment for a CMHC insured mortgage from as little as 5% to 20% will have a sizable impact. According to The deputy chief economist for TD Bank these speculative properties accounted for up to 15% of all new mortgages in Canada. That was really news to me, as it certainly has not been the case with my practice nor do I believe was the case for Real Estate in Peterborough in multifamily or commercial/investment properties.