Tag Archives: Best Mortgage Rate

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 →

Bank of Canada Keeps Overnight Rate Locked

The Bank of Canada announced that it would maintain its overnight rate of 1 percent this morning, thanks to disproportionate growth in the Canadian economy. According to the official release from the Bank, economic growth in Canada was slightly slower than expected in the first quarter of 2012. Even so, the underlying economic momentum appears largely consistent with projected expectations. As such, the latest release from the Bank appeared to ease up on the possibility of an imminent rate hike. However, the overall tone of the piece did little to dispel the fact that rates will increase eventually.  Continue reading →

Retirement and Risky Real Estate

It’s hard to think about decreasing property values when listing prices are through the roof, but failure to understand and plan for the inevitable “bubble” burst could leave you high and dry, especially if you’re rounding the bend on retirement. According to Ben Rabidoux, a correspondent for the Globe and Mail, the next decade will likely be one of the most tumultuous in Canadian real estate history. Here’s what you should know. Continue reading →

Taking a Closer Look at CMHC’s 2011 Annual Report

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation marked its 65th anniversary last week with the release of their 2011 annual report. As the nation’s top mortgage insurer (the organization backs $567 billion in default mortgage insurance), the CMHC controls roughly three-quarters of the nation’s mortgage default insurance. Despite inching ever closer to the $600 billion dollar government-imposed limit, the CMHC’s reported that there’s still plenty of room to meet the nation’s core demand for mortgage insurance. Continue reading →