According to 
the Government of Canada just released several tools and resources to help with the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive program.
These include:
1/ the product highlight sheet (PDF)
2/ the online calculator on the government website
3/ all about the program on the government website
4/ all about the process on an awkward government website, that may or may not work for you
Possibly, the most important question is how the “loan” is paid back. According to a quick review of provided info, you can pay back the full loan if you want at any time. If you sell the home you need to pay back as a percentage of the sale price.
For example, you “borrowed” 10% of value of a new home. When you sell you must pay the government of Canada 10% of the sale price, whether value went up or down.
For resale (not new) homes the max is 5% of value.
Why not borrow the full amount you can, and then if value goes up a lot, pay off the full loan just prior to selling? Not yet clear how this would be handled.
I expect there will be MANY more questions about the process and requirements. It really doesn’t seem like the government thought this program through…but it does line up nicely for a fall election.
There is no doubt that first time buyers are finding it MUCH harder to buy a home in the Ottawa market. Hopefully this program will help in a meaningful way.
The Ottawa Real Estate Board (OREB) just released their statistics and comments on the market for January 2019.
Despite the record snowfall and cold weather the number of sales were the highest for the month of January is several decades.
Highlights include:
Quick overview of what’s happened in Ottawa’s condo (re)sale market over the last several years and what may happen going forward in 2019.
The Ottawa Real Estate market was somewhat crazy at times in 2018. There were many sales that went considerably over asking. Will 2019 be the same? Have we reached the pinnacle of pricing? This video has my commentary for Ottawa Real Estate in 2018 and going forward in 2019:
2018 was a bit a crazy year in the Ottawa Real Estate market. What I tell my clients is that I have never seen anything like it in the last 16 years as a realtor and as a home buyer prior to that.
Ottawa Real Estate Market Stats July 2016 – Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,530 residential properties in July through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 1,490 in July 2016, an increase of 2.7 per cent. The five-year average for July sales is 1,446.
Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 2,162 residential properties in June through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 1,985 in June 2016, an increase of 8.9 per cent. The five-year average for June sales is 1,818.
OTTAWA, June 2, 2017 – Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 2,300 residential properties in May through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® System, compared with 1,919 in May 2016, an increase of 19.9 per cent. The five-year average for May sales is 1,946.