Funspiel nets over $11,000 for the homeless The London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® held its fifteenth annual Homes for Hope® Bonspiel on January 21, 2011 at the Ilderton Curling Club. This popular event is a fundraiser for Mission Services of London.
"One of the principal tenets of the Quality of Life philosophy to which REALTORS® subscribe is our belief that everyone should have access to safe, affordable housing," explains Barb Whitney, LSTAR President. "Mission Services has been providing shelter and assistance to the homeless and disadvantaged in our community for over a half a century. We're proud to be counted among their supporters."
This year's event raised over $11,000 for the charity, bringing the total raised by the bonspiel since its inception to over $113,800 and the total raised by the Association through both the bonspiel and other fundraisers – including the very successful Homes for Hope® pins – to well over $263,800.
City renews commitment to make homeownership easier The City of London is pleased to announce renewal of a program offering affordable homeownership. This very successful program, previously known as the "Affordable Homeownership Program" has been renamed "Investment in Affordable Housing – Homeownership Program" and has been improved to offer more Londoners the opportunity to own their own home.
The program consists of an interest free loan for qualifying home buyers to assist with down payment and closing costs.
To be eligible, households must have a gross household income of $55,000 or less, and must qualify for and be pre-approved for a mortgage at a recognized financial institution. The selling price of the home must be no higher than $145,000. In addition to receiving 5% down payment assistance, qualifying home buyers will receive closing cost assistance of 3%.
The Investment in Affordable Housing – Homeownership Program is a partnership between the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the City of London through the Canada-Ontario Investment in Affordable Housing Program (IAH) which offers low-to-moderate income earners the opportunity to purchase a home in London and Middlesex County.
The federal and provincial governments have set a deadline of March 31, 2012 to expend the funding allocated to the City of London.
Market stable in 2011 2011 proved a solid year for real estate sales, with 8,048 homes exchanging hands over its twelve-month course - just 1% down from the previous year. "It was a little slow coming out of the gate, but in the end we finished strong, despite concern over the extent to which global economic worries would impact us locally," says Jack Lane, LSTAR President for 2011. December delivered a strong performance as well, with 384 sales, just 0.8% down from the previous December. "We are especially pleased by how well St. Thomas did in 2011," observes Lane. "Its sales were up 3% over last year's and its average price rose to $189,413, up 3.7%."
REALTORS® and OPP launch Realty Watch The London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) and the Ontario Provincial Police have launched a new community policing program – Realty Watch.
"The program has two components," says Sgt. Steve Montpetit, O.P.P. Provincial AMBER Alert Coordinator. "The first has to do with reporting suspicious activity. REALTORS® can report either directly to the police or through Crime Stoppers any suspicious activity they observe in the course of their day-to-day business ... and that's potentially very useful when you consider how much crime takes place during the day when people are away at work."
"Home at Last" Partnership wins award The London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® is proud to announce that the "Home at Last" Affordable Home Ownership Partnership spearheaded by the Association back in 2005 has received the coveted Pillar Community Collaboration Award, presented on November 15, 2011, at the London Convention Centre, before a sold-out crowd of 500 guests.
This information is provided by the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®.
The information herein is believed to be accurate and timely, but no warranty as such is expressed or implied.
