Category Archives: Mortgage News

Deciding on Debt: How the New Rules Will Impact Your Mortgage Hunt

Two things are clear about the current Canadian housing market. First, interest rates are going to go up. The Bank of Canada governor, Mark Carney, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, and pretty much anyone involved in the banking industry has been warning of a hike, if not several, potentially before the end of the year. Second, the nation’s major banks have been offering absolutely amazing deals on long term fixed rate mortgages.

Which leads us to the million dollar question – is now the time to lock in a fixed rate or is a variable rate the way to go? Continue reading →

New Mortgage Rules Will Dampen Economic Growth?

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty stated last week that he realizes tightening mortgage rules could slow economic growth by force-cooling the housing market, and also that he was prepared to take this risk. Since then, TD Bank Mortgage professionals have estimated that Ottawa’s move to reduce the maximum amortization period to 25 years could curtail growth by as much as 0.2 percentage points in 2013. Continue reading →

Tick Tock – Mortgage Changes Come Into Effect July 9

Three months ago, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told banks to step up and firm up their lending requirements. When that didn’t work, he took matters into his own hands, releasing a laundry list of mortgage rules last week. The roughly eight major rules released by the DoF and the OSFI last week will likely influence the Canadian real estate market for years to come, but their impact on the current situation will be most evident in the next week as the due date for implementation, July 9, draws near.

If you’re in the market for a home and are worried about how the new mortgage rules could impact your purchase, now’s the time to act. Here’s a look at what’s been happening, and what will likely happen over the next few days. Continue reading →

Were Flaherty’s Changes Too Late?

The fourth round of changes to Canada’s mortgage rules were designed to clamp down on an overheated housing market. Now, a week later, analysts are wondering if Finance Minister Jim Flaherty jumped the gun. Detractors are pointing to a real estate market that was already beginning to decline, both in terms of sales and price. Tightening mortgage rules during a period of corrective market action could grind the market to the halt.

While the Toronto market remains hot, overall the Canadian housing market has cooled. The Canadian Real Estate Association recently released that its benchmark index for home prices was up to 5.2 percent in May from a year earlier. Most notably, gains in the Vancouver market were shrinking. Not surprisingly, Toronto’s rate was up about 7.9 percent from a year ago. Continue reading →

Ottawa Drops the Hammer on Mortgage Rules

Back in April, FinanceĀ MinisterĀ Mark Carney remarked that “in exceptional circumstances, if there are issues that threaten financial stability, such as household debt… the bank could use monetary policy for that purpose.”

Just three months later, those exceptional circumstances have become reality.

On Wednesday, the Federal Government made their move to further tighten mortgage rules, addressing concerns over high Canadian household debt.Ā  Continue reading →