The bad news for China’s real estate market could be good news for Canada’s condominium market.

A crackdown on real estate ownership in the world’s most populous county might translate into Chinese citizens looking to move more of their money abroad, with Canada a leading destination.

“Absolutely it will have a positive impact [on the condo sector],” said Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist with CIBC World Markets. “If it’s softening now, it will soften less rapidly than otherwise. This is a positive move because some of the money will find its way to Canada.”

The Shanghai Stock Exchange Property Index was off as much as 9.3% following news of the crackdown Monday, which will include increasing down payment requirements on second-home mortgages and tougher implementation of a 20% capital gains tax on property sales.

Cabada’s two largest condo markets — Vancouver and Toronto — can probably use a boost. RealNet Canada Inc. reported last month that new home high-rise sales across the Greater Toronto Area dropped to 686 in January from 744 a year earlier and 1099 in 2011. There has been less pressure on values with the group’s index showing only a 2% increases in condo prices from a year ago on a square foot basis.

In Vancouver, the real estate board for the metro area said last week that sales for existing apartment properties were down 25.5% in February from a year earlier. Prices were also down 3% in that asset class from a year ago.

Ben Myers, vice-president of Urbanation Inc., which does research on the condo sector in Toronto, said the impact of foreign investors remains unclear.

“A lot of foreign investment comes through a subsidiary so there is no way to figure it exactly out,” said Mr. Myers.

By his firm’s estimates, only about 10% to 15% of investors come from abroad and only about 5% of those people have their name on the direct purchase of sale.

“It’s a small amount,” said Mr. Myers about the number of people who might come from China to invest.

Even at a small amount, those people would be welcome in the condo sector, given sales are not quite as robust as past years.

Realtor and developer Brad Lamb says every time there is a crackdown abroad, it’s good for the Canadian market.

“Foreign buyers are trying to move their money to a safer spot for capital preservation. We see that a lot from more politically risky countries,” said Mr. Lamb. “They are looking for hard assets and the condo sector has a track record of increasing prices.”

While Mr. Myers speculated that tighter rules out of China could be bad for the Canadian real estate market if the Chinese government restricts money leaving the country, Mr. Lamb said that might mean foreign buyers are unlikely to sell here.

“There is no way in the world they are going to bring the money back,” said Mr. Lamb. “They’ve done that as a safe haven. You have money in Toronto, you leave it here.”

He said one of the methods of bringing cash into Canada via real estate is to have a student going to school here. Other times, the money is transferred to relatives.

“What makes it attractive is the scale here. We are talking $300,000 to $400,000 condos. There are few places in world you can buy that in that price range and have someone run it,” said Mr. Lamb. “It’s much harder to bring money into other countries. We have a very easy and open pipeline of Chinese money.”

Source: Garry Marr, Financial Post

To celebrate International Women’s Day, here are some (perhaps) surprising facts about women in today’s world.

The best place to be a woman

It’s Iceland, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report for 2012. The country has claimed the top spot in the report since 2009. Finland, Norway and Sweden round out the top four. (Canada fell three spots to land in 21st place out of 135 countries, one above the United States. What hurts us: the lack of female politicians. The good news: Take a look at the premiers of British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut.)

Country with the smallest gender wage gap

Egypt, where the World Economic Forum says the gender wage gap is 18 cents – so women can expect to earn 82 cents for every dollar a man gets.

(Canadian women, by comparison, can expect to earn about 73 cents, placing us 35th in the ranking.)

Country with the most female politicians

Rwanda. In the African country, as of February, women held 45 of the 80 seats in Parliament. By comparison, in Canada, which ranks 45th in the Inter-Parliamentary Union study, men outnumber women in Parliament by a ratio of 3 to 1. When it comes to women in ministerial positions, that ratio also holds (27 per cent female to 73 per cent male).

Country where women live the longest

Japan, where women can expect to live 87 years, compared with 79.2 for men in the country. In Canada, the average life expectancy for women is 82.8 years – nearly five years longer than men. In Afghanistan and Lesotho, the average girl won’t live to see her 50th birthday.

Country most friendly to female billionaires

China. According to a recent Forbes study, the Asian nation has a “uniquely high” number of self-made women among its richest citizens – a trend the report credits, in part, to communism, which forced gender equality, and created an attitude shift that guides business today.

Best country to pass off the vacuuming to the man in the house

Denmark. According to a study by the OECD, women in the Scandanavian country (with the lucky female citizens of Sweden, Norway and Finland following closely) do only about 50 minutes more of unpaid labour a day than men. Compare that to women in India, who are doing five hours more a day of unpaid labour than their male counterparts. The significant gender gap is partly because Indian women have less access to paid work, but the study also noted that, “Indian men also spend considerably more time sleeping, eating, talking to friends, watching TV and relaxing.”

Country with most women in the work force

Burundi. According the World Economic Forum, 92 per cent of female citizens in Burundi have paid work – compared with 88 per cent of men. Canada ranks 20th. Pakistan scored the lowest on this measure: In that country, men in paying jobs outnumber women 4 to 1.

Top country for women in positions of power

Jamaica, where there are more women than men serving as legislators, officials or managers (59 per cent vs. 41 per cent, according to the World Economic Forum). Canadian reality check: We rank 31st, with 36 per cent women vs. 64 per cent men.

Best place to be a female engineer

Estonia. In this country, which offers significant tuition incentives to draw high-school graduates into fields such as engineering, female professional and technical workers outnumber men two to one – 68 per cent compared to 32 per cent, according to the World Economic Forum. Women make up 57 per cent of Canada’s professional and technical workers.

Safest place to have a baby

Estonia. According to country comparisons published by the CIA World Factbook, the maternal mortality rate, which includes death during pregnancy, childbirth, or 42 days after ending a pregnancy, in Estonia is two deaths for every 100,000 births. In Canada, the rate is 12 in 100,000 – the same as the U.K. and Denmark. In Chad, the most dangerous country, the rate is 1,100 in 100,000 live births.

Best place to stay at home with your kids

Germany. German mothers get 14 weeks off at 100 per cent of their wages. They collect a parental allowance of 67 per cent of their wages for 14 months, and both parents have the option of three years of parental leave in total. (In Canada, parents may take 52 weeks of maternity leave in total, receiving the equivalent of EI for that period.)

Country with the most female Nobel laureates

The United States. In related news, the U.S. can also claim to the most Miss Universe titles. Guess which achievement gets the most attention? (Also, all of Canada’s 21 Nobel prize winners have been men.)

Best place to buy your daughter a celebrity magazine

Israel. Last year, Israel banned the use of underweight models in local advertising, and passed a law requiring publications to disclose when models have been edited to appear thinner than they really are.

Country with the lowest rates of domestic violence

Georgia. According to a United Nations study in March of 2011, the lifetime prevalence of sexual or physical abuse against a woman in Georgia is 5 per cent. Canada comes second in a list of 86 countries, at 7 per cent. In Ethiopia, the rates of violence against women by a partner is horrifically high: 71 per cent of women are physically or sexually abused over the course of their lives. According to the study, in the last 12 months that the statistics were recorded, 44 per cent of Ethiopian women suffered sexual abuse. The World Bank took a closer look at reasons why women reported the abuse happened. In Niger, according to a 2006 survey, 44 per cent of women said they were beaten for burning dinner. In 2008, 41 per cent of women in Sierra Leone said they were beaten by their husbands for refusing to have sex.

The land where women stay single the longest

French Polynesia. According to data collected by the World Bank, Polynesian women don’t get married, on average, until the age of 33. There were no figures available for many countries, but in both Mali and Niger, a typical girl can expect to be married before her 18th birthday. In most industrialized nations, of course, the age of first marriage keeps going up. In Canada, the average women ties the knot at 29.

Top country to be a single mother

Norway. A Unicef study found that in the Scandanavian country, only 4.1 per cent of children in single-parent families were deprived of quality of life measures, including being able to heat their homes properly, being able to afford a meal with meat every second day, and manage unexpected expenses. The study placed Romania last.

Source: Erin Anderssen, The Globe and Mail

The slowdown in the Metro Vancouver real estate market continued in February, with sales nearly one-third below the 10-year average, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported Monday.

Home sales in the region have been trending below historical averages for a full year now and February 2013 had the second-lowest number of sales in any February since 2001, the REBGV said. “Sales in February followed recent trends and were below seasonal averages, though our members tell us they saw more traffic at open houses last month compared to the previous six to eight months, said Eugen Klein, REBGV president.

The perception that housing is overvalued may be a factor slowing sales. Rating agency Fitch Ratings says Canadian home prices are overvalued by about 20 per cent, while prices in B.C. are overvalued by 26 per cent.

The Fitch report released Monday states that the agency does not expect prices to fall by those amounts, but rather that “if growth halted tomorrow and prices began to drop, Fitch expects that it would take several years for home prices to revert to their sustainable values. This depends on a number of factors such as government support and credit availability. With this time frame, the observed nominal decline in prices could be as low as 10 per cent.”

The report describes B.C. as being highly desirable to residents because of its climate and coastline, and benefiting from restricted land supply.

“More recently, prices have been supported by an influx of foreign buyers, particularly from Asia, who have viewed the Canadian housing market as a safe haven for investment, increasing the speculative value of these properties without altering the traditional market dynamics.”

Meanwhile, BMO lowered its five-year low-rate fixed mortgage to 2.99 per cent from 3.09 per cent to drum up business.

While sales numbers for February are down significantly from last year at this time in both Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, prices are not moving much.

In Metro Vancouver, the home price index composite benchmark price is down 5.6 per cent to $590,400 from its peak in May, 2012 of $625,100 and the composite benchmark price in the Fraser Valley was $422,700 up slightly from last year at this time.

In Metro Vancouver, 1,797 properties sold in February 2013, compared to 1,351 in January and 2,545 in February 2012. In the Fraser Valley, 913 homes sold in February, compared to 617 in January and 1,269 in February 2012.

Both boards reported that realtors have said more people are visiting open houses than in recent months.

“We’re seeing signals that the standoff between buyers and sellers over the last six months is coming to an end,” said Ron Todson, president of the FVREB, which includes North Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Abbotsford and Mission. “Business has picked up in the last month with increased traffic at open houses, sellers quicker to accept offers and homes selling on average two weeks faster than they did in January.”

Klein said the REBGV does a survey of its members monthly and in February, for the first time in eight months, two-thirds of realtors reported more traffic at open houses.

Todson said different areas of the Fraser Valley were showing much different activity, with condos in Abbotsford and Central Surrey and townhome sales in North and Central Surrey and Cloverdale proving popular.

“One commonality among these areas and property types is greater affordability. What’s not doing well generally anywhere in the Fraser Valley is sales of higher-end homes unless they are priced competitively,” Todson said.

In Metro Vancouver, proximity to transit is driving sales, Klein said, noting that sales of properties near the Canada Line and the planned Evergreen Line are seeing an uptick in both development activity and home sales.

“You’re also seeing buyers going there to buy homes because those are the most affordable and have the best opportunity for appreciation and they can buy more for their buck,” Klein said. “If you bought a home near Southwest Marine (and Cambie Street) before 2012, your commute to downtown Vancouver would have been 45 minutes in rush hour. Today, it’s a different equation.”

Source: Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun

The spring housing market is expected to bring on a new battle from mortgage lenders as they compete for what has become a shrinking pie in the form of lower real estate sales.

Bank of Montreal struck first on Friday with a five-year closed mortgage rate of 2.99% — down from 3.09% and now the lowest published rate among the big banks — with sources indicating the financial institution’s mortgage specialists are armed with discretionary power to go as low as 2.89%.

As the banks battle it out for consumers skittish about jumping into what more than one analyst sees as an inflated housing market, lenders know their costs have dropped in the past few weeks. The Bank of Canada’s five-year bond rate is in the 1.3% range after being almost at 1.6% at the end of January.

“Perhaps there is pressure to lower rates,” said Gregory Klump, chief economist with the Canadian Real Estate Association, about banks trying to capture customers in a slowing market. “It remains to be seen how much [the real estate market] is going to slow.”

While some predict a collapse in the housing market, so far prices have remained firm and sales have dipped only in the single-digit range from a year ago.

CREA said last month that January prices were up 2% year-over-year, while sales were down 5.2% during the same period. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales actually climbed 1.3% from December to January.

It’s unclear whether a new round of mortgage rate cuts will have an impact on consumers already used to a prime rate of 3% and long-term mortgage rates even below that.

“I don’t think low rates change their mind on whether they are going to buy or not,” Mr. Klump said. “What it does change is how much property they can afford. The most important thing at this point in the cycle is how confident consumers are of economic prospects going forward.”

Source: Garry Marr, Financial Post

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has been asking realtors for months to keep consumers in the dark about whether the properties it (CMHC) sells are part of a foreclosure, according to a document obtained by The Financial Post.

The move, said to be part of CMHC national policy, upset Quebec realtors who refused to play ball, worried about an ethical breach.

The Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards, which oversees the 12 real estate boards in the province, says it challenged CMHC about the change requiring them not to report on a detail sheet that properties for sale were part of a foreclosure, despite the fact that information is considered mandatory when loaded by brokers onto the selling system of local boards.

“Because the repossession field is currently a mandatory field in the brokerage system you have no choice but to indicate ‘no’, which goes against ethical rules stipulating that real estate brokers are obliged to publish information that is truthful and verified,” the group said in a statement to members.

The two sides resolved the issue by making it no longer mandatory to reflect the foreclosure status of a home, based on the seller’s instructions.

The issue raises a larger concern about why CMHC is acting now to tighten up its practices for foreclosures.

Some real estate industry insiders wonder whether the Crown corporation is simply being prudent, not letting potential buyers know a property is part of a distressed sell so they can put in a low-ball bid.

Others question whether the Crown corporation is just getting things in order in case home prices collapse and they are forced to sell properties that are backed by government insurance.

In Canada, anyone buying a home with less than 80% down and borrowing money from financial institution covered by the Bank Act must get mortgage default insurance. CMHC, which controls about 75% of the insurance market, is ultimately backed 100% by the federal government.

“Look at what is going on right now in financial institutions and everybody is ratcheting up their loan-loss provisions,” said Ben Rabidoux, a Canadian analyst for California-based Hanson Advisors, a market research firm whose clients are institutional investors. “Everybody expects loan losses to rise. I can’t imagine CMHC is in the dark on that. My suspicion is they want to limit any loss that hits their books.”

By limiting the information on whether a property is part of a foreclosure, the Crown corporation would potentially avoid a situation in which a buyer knows it has to sell. In the United States, foreclosed properties have sold at huge discounts.

“CMHC is trying to get the better price,” said Don Lawby, chief executive of Century 21 Canada, who had not heard of the new policy. “You know something is repossessed, you low-ball the offer. You know you are not dealing with a homeowner but an investor.”

Based on current market conditions, CMHC doesn’t appear to be looking at a huge uptick in foreclosures. The latest data from the Canadian Bankers Association shows only .32% of mortgage holders are in arrears and the number is actually on the decline.

Some also question whether the strategy would amount to much because although brokers may not load the foreclosure information onto a public site, it would become readily apparent to any buyer it was a repossession when CMHC is revealed to be the seller.

The Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards, while leaving brokers the option about publishing the information, indicated brokers will ultimately tell people CMHC is behind the sale when asked.

“The broker has to give the information once anyone is interested in that property,” said Chantal de Repentigny, assistant director of media relations with the federation. “The only thing that has changed is they have the choice to do it on the listing.”

Source: Garry Marr, Financial Post

A new report says the cost of home ownership in most major Canadian markets was down slightly in the last three months of 2012 but notes that pressure on household budgets remains somewhat above the historical average.

“Home ownership costs came down for a second consecutive quarter as a share of household income thanks primarily to small declines in mortgage rates and home prices in several markets across the country,” the RBC report says.

But it notes that there were also back-to-back back cost increases in the first two quarters of 2012, extending a pattern of alternating decreasing and increasing affordability that has been going on since 2010.

The absence of clear direction in the trend in the past three years, in turn, means that affordability pressures continue to be somewhat greater than they have been on average historically.

“RBC’s measures still modestly exceed their averages since the mid-1980s, with the imbalance being more pronounced in the two-storey home segment.”

Vancouver showed the biggest improvement from the third quarter, but remained the least affordable home property market tracked by RBC Economics Research.

In that city, the cost of mortgage payments, utilities and property taxes for a benchmark detached bungalow would eat up 82.2% of a typical household’s pre-tax income.

That’s down 2.6 percentage points from the previous quarter but still indicates the cost of basic home expenses in Vancouver is beyond the reach of many people.

The RBC Housing Trends and Affordability report, compiled four times a year by the group that owns RBC Royal Bank, estimates it would take $147,700 of annual income to qualify for a benchmark mortgage on a Vancouver detached bungalow.

In Toronto, the second-most expensive market tracked, the qualifying income in the fourth quarter was $111,400, resulting in an affordability measure of 52.8% — down four-tenths of a point from the third quarter.

As is often the case in national real estate statistics, Vancouver and Toronto tend to have a disproportionate impact on the overall numbers.

On a national basis, the bank estimates the cost of owning a detached bungalow eased by two-tenths of a point to 42.1% of household pre-tax income. The qualifying annual income in this case is $77,200 — roughly half Vancouver’s rate.

RBC estimates it took 28% of pre-tax income to cover a condo’s basic costs and 47.8% of a typical family paycheque to pay for a two-storey home — down two-tenths of a point and three-tenths of a point respectively.

Source: Canadian Press

Get rid of the rainy blahs and get yourself down to Granville Island this weekend for the 8th annual Winterruption festival-palooza!

Parlez-Vous Français? You won’t need to speak the language to enjoy Vive Vendredi! a celebration of Francophone flavours, comedy, cinema and music! Savour French food and wine tastings, Juste Pour Rire stand-up comedy, bilingual artists and performers.

Hungry? Street Eats & Beats, featuring Vancouver’s top food trucks, a live dj and local beverages will be under the Granville Street Bridge for two nights only, Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $35.

Granville Island loves kids! Visit the Kids Zone to make a mask or make music. Clown around with Ben la Barouette, sing along with Will Stroet and his Backyard Band, and join Mortal Coil’s colourful towering stiltwalkers and The Brotherhood of Brass Band as they wind their way through the streets of Granville Island.

At Performance Works, Coastal Jazz and Blues Society presents amazing music all weekend long.

Love original, local art? You’ll want to spend all weekend visiting exhibits and touring artists’ studios. Join [ART]ifacts: The Granville Island Story, a tour exploring art and culture through a mosaic of eye-catching, unique, historic and innovative creations. Red Hot Press is presented by Dundarave Print Workshop in the Net Loft, Western Canada’s oldest artist run cooperative printmaking studio and gallery, and Emily Carr University along with Opus Art Supplies offer tours and workshops all weekend.

The Island is alive with theatre and dance. See where the magic begins – behind the scenes – in the costume and production shop. Expect the unexpected as some of Vancouver’s favourite dancers pop up in unusual spaces all over the Island, or take the little ones to Dr. Suess’s The Cat in the Hat presented by Carousel Theatre at the Waterfront Theatre.

For further information, please see Winterruption Granville Island.

Both sales and prices of homes in B.C. were up in January when compared to December.

However, they were down compared to January 2012, the British Columbia Real Estate Association reported Monday.

The number of sales was up 1.8 per cent in January, but down 13.6 per cent from last year at this time.

The average composite price was $514,134, up 3.2 per cent from December, but down 2.7 per cent from a year ago, BCREA said.

“Despite a modest uptick in consumer demand last month, home sales have remained relatively stable at a noticeably lower level since last August,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA chief economist.

The volatility in average prices that was caused by the 2011 surge and subsequent 2012 pullback in luxury home sales appears to have moderated, Muir said.

The year-over-year drop in average price of 2.7 per cent more closely reflects the price of a typical home, he added.

Source: Tracy Sherlock, Vancouver Sun

I get asked this a lot, especially around this time of year when RRSP deadlines are looming. If you’re a first-time homebuyer, then yes, RRSPs and pension savings can be put towards a down payment. This article written by Jim Yih, a financial expert, appeared in Postmedia News.

Twenty years ago, I borrowed $10,000 from my RRSPs, under the federal government’s Home Buyers’ Plan, to help me purchase my first home.

Since then, I have always been an advocate of the Home Buyers’ Plan.

It’s a great deal for those looking to purchase their first home because they can borrow up to $25,000 from their RRSPs.

Under the plan, you do not pay tax on the withdrawal because it’s like a loan that has to be paid back into the RRSP over a 15-year period.

Each year, you have to pay back one-fifteenth of the borrowed amount. If you don’t, then the required payment becomes taxable that year.

I recently talked to two young people who are planning to buy their first house this year. Their stories each illustrate how they are able to use their RRSPs and the Home Buyers Plan to their advantage.

But what happens when you have no RRSPS?

Mark has been working for three years, since graduating from university. He has saved $10,000 toward the purchase of his first home. His parents are going to match his savings and give him another $10,000 toward the down payment.

Because he has focused his savings on purchasing a home, he has not put any money away in RRSPs and therefore has considerable unused RRSP contribution room available to him.

Since Mark has no RRSPs, he is not able to take advantage of the Home Buyers’ Plan.

I suggested that Mark take both his $10,000 and his parents’ matching contribution and put it into to his RRSPs right away. After 90 days, he can get the money out through the Home Buyers’ Plan. This is advantageous because his $20,000 contribution creates a significant tax savings.

Let’s assume Mark is in a 32-percent marginal tax bracket. That means that a $20,000 RRSP contribution will give him a tax refund of $6,400. That $6,400 can be used toward the down payment of the home, or it can be used to deal with all the other costs like legal fees, moving costs, utility hook ups, etc. By contributing the money to the RRSPs first, Mark is creating $26,500 for his home purchase, instead of just $20,000, because of the tax deduction.

In another case, I met Stan, who is also looking to buy his first home this year. He has only saved $6,500. He has an RRSP at the bank worth about $3,500 and he has $8,000 in a defined contribution pension plan from one of his previous employers. Stan was thinking about cashing in this pension and using it toward the purchase of his home.

Normally, pension money cannot be cashed out. But because the balance of the pension is less than 20 per cent of the current Yearly Maximum Pensionable Earnings, he is able to do so. The problem with cashing out the pension is that Stan will have to pay tax on the withdrawal. Instead of getting $8,000, after paying tax he would only have $5,450. However, instead of cashing out the pension, Stan is able to transfer the pension to his RRSP. He won’t get a tax deduction, but he can use the entire $8,000 toward the down payment of the home through the Home Buyers’ Plan.

After transferring the $8,000 pension into the RRSP, he should also contribute his cash savings of $6,500 to it, as well. With the $3,500 already in his existing RRSP, he would then have $18,000 in the RRSP that can be pulled out through the Home Buyers’ Plan. In addition, his $6,500 contribution would result in a tax refund of approximately $2,000. This scenario will give Stan $20,000, compared to only $15,450 if he cashes out the pension and does not put the $6,500 into the RRSP.

Since we are in the heart of RRSP season, first-time home buyers should consider making a contribution to their RRSP, to get an immediate tax deduction and a corresponding refund in April or May of this year.

Any contributions to the RRSP can be withdrawn through the Home Buyers’ Plan 90 days after deposit. Any contributions will result in a tax deduction, which will give the homebuyer a little extra cash. Basically, first-time homebuyers with cash should contribute to their RRSPs, if they have the contribution room.

For more info, visit Jim’s blog, RetireHappyBlog.ca.

Renovating a home to make it more energy efficient can be expensive, but Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) offers a program that could reduce the sticker shock.

CMHC Green Home offers a refund “equivalent to” 10% of CHMC mortgage loan premiums for those who use CMHC-insured financing to pay for a renovation that increases the energy-efficiency of a home.

Legalese aside, the program, which dates back to 2004, offers an incentive for homeowners looking to either renovate their homes to be more energy-efficient, buy a home undergoing improvements, or build or buy a new green home, says CMHC business development representative Nicole Lilge.

“Our Green Home product is great for people looking for high-ratio financing and who have plans for [an energy-efficient] home renovation or new home,” she says. “And you can go online and fill out the form.”

There are several steps to take in applying for the CMHC Green Home program.

First, and before any renovation work begins, says Lilge, you need to have your home inspected by an energy advisor qualified by the Office of Energy Efficiency (part of National Resources Canada) to determine the home’s EnerGuide (energy efficiency) rating at the outset. According to the CMHC, after taking this baseline reading of the home, the advisor will then provide suggestions for improving that rating as part of your upcoming renovation work.

For the second step, “the main thing is to talk to your lender or your broker to say we’re purchasing a home that we know is green, or we will be renovating a home,” Lilge says. At that point, the homeowner can find out what CMHC insurance-related refinancing options might be available.

After that, the saws and hammers come out and work begins on your renovation, addition, teardown and rebuild, or whatever vision you have for your home.

Once the dust settles, and within 24 months of completion, a second inspection by an energy advisor must be conducted to determine whether efficiency has actually been improved.

CMHC’s website says the threshold of improvement for a home reno has to be at least five points and a minimum overall EnerGuide rating of 40. For new homes, the EnerGuide rating minimum ranges from 77 and 82 — the number varies depending on the purchase-closing date and was recently increased to 82 for purchases closing on Jan. 1, 2013, or later. Hit the magic number, and you may be eligible for the premium refund. You can apply via an online form or download the application and mail it in.

Although the program has been in place for nine years, homeowners are often not aware that it’s available as a potential option when they finance a major renovation, says Ryan Scott, president of Avalon Master Builder.

“Quite a few of our customers have taken advantage of it — but almost none of them were aware of it prior to purchasing a home from us,” he says. “It is a perk of buying from a green builder.

“The biggest challenge is awareness of the program, and what it means to [customers] and how much money it can save them. The paperwork is pretty simple.”

Scott says that whether building new or renovating, clients often misunderstand some of the terminology used in building. “A lot of people think ‘building to code’ builds you an [energy-efficient] house,” he says. “It builds you a house that is safe — ‘code’ is all about safety, it’s not about energy-efficiency. Building a house ‘to code’ isn’t good enough.”

Although an exact breakdown of how many home renovations have taken advantage of CMHC Green Home isn’t available, Lilge says, “since 2004, Green Home has provided more than $6-million in premium refunds.”

Green Home is one of a number of CMHC resources, including information resources, available to homeowners and renovators, says Lilge. There are brochures available on a variety of topics via links on the CMHC Green Home website cmhc-schl.gc.ca/greenhome.

“[Homeowners] can also take advantage of our Purchase Plus Improvements Program, where you would include the cost of your renovation in your mortgage at the outset,” Lilge says.

The program allows those buying homes that need to undergo major renovations to roll the cost of that work into a single monthly mortgage payment rather than having to create separate financing, if the cost of the renovation work is known.

Source: Alex Frazer-Harrison, Postmedia News