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Here is our update on the Edmonton real estate market. (Previous week’s numbers are in brackets). For the past 7 days:

New listings: 487 (500, 547, 563)
# Sales: 289 (297, 295, 329)
Ratio: 59% (59%, 54%, 58%)
# Price changes: 324 (312, 349, 351)
# Expired/Off Market Listings: 421 (150, 177, 156)
Net loss/gain in listings this week: -223 (53, 75, 78)
Active single family home listings: 3086 (3216, 3204, 3129)
Active condo listings: 1832 (1925, 1868, 1862)
Homes 4-week running average: $384k ($387k, $388k, $390)
Condos 4-week running average: $225k ($229k, $236k, $237k)

I will keep this short and sweet so I can get to work on the monthly stats for June. Happy Canada Day!

The most expansive expatriate survey is back and it wants to hear from you. If you’re living abroad then HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey will benefit from your time and effort in filling it in and providing data about your life as an expatriate living overseas – what’s more, fellow expats and would-be expats will benefit from the final findings that reveal where the best places to live abroad are for lifestyle, families and finances

Unarguably the best, most expansive expat survey is back!  HSBC’s Expat Explorer survey is up online and it’s waiting for you to fill it in.  The survey’s findings are always fascinating, and they really help other expats realise that they are not alone with any hurdles they’ve encountered in terms of integration, and they are certainly not alone in terms of loving their new life abroad!

The survey is fairly long-winded however, and it does require a certain amount of commitment from all respondents – so take an extended tea break before you sit down to submit your answers because you don’t want to get distracted half way through!

The findings from the survey bring us all great insight into what the expat lifestyle is like all over the world.  Furthermore the findings allow us all to see where in the world expats are better off financially and emotionally, where families enjoy the best lifestyle for example, and where healthcare, the work/life balance and aspects of life such as the cost of living are better.

Last year’s Ex

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So, are you selling your own home or in the market to buy a new home for yourself? Guess what you’re going to need a home inspection done by a qualified professional prior to completing the sale or purchase. Because purchasing a home is (probably) the largest single purchase you will make in your life, it’s important to get your potential new asset inspected for any problems before you sign on the dotted line. After all, there is nothing worse than finding any huge problems after you have taken ownership that are then your responsibility to take care of! While home inspections do vary in quality and requirements, there are some aspects that will usually be the same no matter where you live or whom you decide to work with, and this is because there are guidelines put forth by the National Association of Home Inspectors which good home inspectors take care to follow when doing their job. Let

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The article idea triggered from  one of the few simple queries, how many properties a person can own? On the face of it answer is even simpler, as many as you want. There are no restrictions on the numbers of  properties you can own either under the general laws or under the income tax laws.

Thus follows another question  – What are the numbers of properties for which you can take a home loan? There are also no restrictions on the number of properties in respect of which you can take a home loan either under income tax act or regulations of RBI. However there are some tax implications under the provisions of Income Tax laws and wealth tax laws for owning more than one houses. I

Here I propose to cover the subject of ownership of more than one property and its implications.

Deduction in respect of Repayment of Principal of home loan:

Presently the income tax laws allow you an overall deduction upto Rs. 1

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Foreign lender Standard Chartered Bank has introduced a new mobile banking facility in India called ‘Standard Chartered Breeze’.

Customers will be finding this product easier to use as well as convenient because of an intuitive as well as design rich interface of the product.

“Breeze is a comprehensive banking platform that enables our customer to personalise how they see, move and manage their money with incredible ease,” the bank’s Chief Information Officer (India and South Asia), Mr Matthew Norris said.

Breeze can be accessed by customers using their online username and password only.

This weekend the Alberta chapter of CCI (Canadian Condominium Institute) had a conference here in Edmonton. While Sara was one of the presenters and presented on real estate trends I got the chance to sit in on some other presentations.

I often hear complaints from condo owners that are not involved in their condo associations and I realized at the conference just how many of these people are volunteers. They give up their own time and talent and take on many of the problems that must be faced with very little credit.

When I started selling real estate a few years back (1988) condos made up about 5% of the market in terms of sales. According to the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton they now make up about 28% of the market, and at one point (2007) made up 35% of the market.

Anyway, without further delay, the key thing I took away is that the condo act is currently undergoing an extensive review for the first time since 2000.

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Is it a case of chasing headline rates of return nowadays of you want to get better rates of interest offshore? Not necessarily – as we will demonstrate there is an easier way to approach getting more for your money through offshore savings.

At the start of the year there was much speculation about the way interest rates might rise in the UK; the general consensus of professional opinion was that they would be hiked before year-end and bring misery to mortgage holders and relief to hardworking savers and investors.  The fact of the matter is however, the UK’s economy is still not strong enough to cope with rate rises just yet…

As a result, increasing numbers of onshore and expat savers are looking offshore to see if they can get better rates of return on their hard earned wealth from the international banks and building societies.  However, higher rates are not immediately obvious and it leads one to the question: ‘how can I get the best rates of interest offshore?’

The fact of the matter is, there are certain steps you can take to ensure you’re getting the most for your money, and expats do have an advantage when it comes to getting more offshore…read on to find out.

All ba

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