The steadily increasing price of homes in cities across Canada is on the rise faster than recent wage increases can keep up with it. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the home index price rose 5.2 percent just this past May. CBC news reports weekly income increasing by only eight tenths of a percentage point. Many economists are citing this disproportional increase as reason for the government to tighten up mortgage rules even more than what has already been done. BMO Capital Markets Economist Sal Guatieri says, “By our estimate, to neutralize the impact on mortgage payments of the amortization rule change, average home prices would need to fall by about four per cent.” In response, Ottawa has begun limiting the availability of government-insured mortgages, limiting them to home worth less than one million dollars with amortizations of 25 years or less. These cutbacks are reportedly an effort to curb the overheated real estate markets we’ve been seeing pop up in Toronto and Vancouver. Economists carry a generally positive outlook, mostly agreeing that the preventative measures now being taken should be sufficient to bring the market into a soft landing, as opposed to crashing and burning.
The Secrets That Your Gas Station Is Keeping From You
While you are looking for ways to save on gas, your gas station is looking for ways to draw you in to make the most profit from you. There are things that gas stations will not divulge to their customers. Yahoo Finance offers these tips:
1) If you have a newer car, regular gas performs just as well as premium gas.
2) Gas prices fluctuate. You pay the highest gas price usually around the middle of the week. Prices do not tend to go up right before the end of the week.
3) If you shop around, you can usually find cheaper gas elsewhere. The prices at membership clubs are usually lower, and it is a good deal if you already have membership. A website called GasBuddy can give you gas prices from pumps across Canada and the U.S.
4) Do not get gas from a station that is getting refuelled by a tanker at the moment. The sediment that is moving around in the fuel during the refuelling process can get into your car and cause a lot of problems.
5)Stop pumping when your gas tank shuts off. Squeezing out every little bit can do more harm than good to your car.
Posted in: Saving Money
