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
Tag Archives: Mortgage Broker
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
Fewer First Time Home Buyers Could Signal Trouble
A recent report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows that there are fewer first time home buyers entering the nation’s real estate market. The recently released Renovation and Home Purchase Report, which highlights the key trends, analyses and statistics from ten major Canadian cities, predicts that the housing market could be headed towards trouble thanks to a decreasing number of first time home buyers.Ā Continue reading