Great Reasons For Canadians to buy in 2009/2010

There are a lot of great reasons for Canadians to buy right now. Low home prices and interest rates are the most obvious ones, but did you know about the First Time Home Buyers tax credit and the increase in the withdrawal ceiling on the RRSP Home Buyers Plan? The 2009 federal budget is making home ownership easier than ever.

Home prices and interest rates are dropping in most Canadian cities, making it a great time to buy from a basic financial standpoint - if you can own instead of rent for a comparable amount of money, why not? Lower home prices mean that you have more options and more buying power.

Interest rates have dropped along with home prices. Interest rates are what really determine what your home payment will be. Right now, you can get an interest rate for below 5%. This can bring your mortgage payment down hundreds of dollars a month.

The 2009 federal budget allows you to make more money tax-free. The tax free amount used to be $9,600; now it's $10,320. The ceiling on the first two tax brackets has also risen. An income of up to $40,726 is only taxed 15%. The next bracket of 22% income taxation applies to incomes of up to $81,452.

Right now, the government is offering tax credit towards home renovation from $1000-10000, which ends up being around 15% cash back when you tally up your savings. Buy that fixer-upper and put some work into it, knowing that a good chunk will come back to you in tax savings.

The best deals by far come to the first time home buyers. The Canadian government has increased the amount that one can take from their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) from $20,000 to $25,000. This is via the RRSP Home Buyers Plan (HBP). The bonus with using your RRSP is that while you have to pay back the money, you have 15 years to do so.

Canadians have a lot of great reasons to buy in the 2009-2010 season. Low rates, low prices and tax breaks are making Canada a great place to invest in real estate. If you're a first time home buyer, the advantages are increased with the HBP. Prices will eventually start to climb again and those who have bought homes now will benefit from increases to equity as well as any improvements they have made.