Never before has Canada’s banking regulator received so much pushback on a mortgage rule. OSFI has felt such heat from its controversial “B-20” stress test, that it’s started a campaign to defend its position—e.g.,this speechlast Tuesday (video) and this one last Thursday. From that and from what we know of regulators’ non-public comments, one thing appears clear. The government has...
The Department of Finance is considering a return to 30-year amortizations on insured mortgages, says the Canadian Homebuilders’ Association (as reportedin the Globe and Mail). The last time we had 30-year amortizations on insured mortgages was 2012.This time, however, only first-time buyers might get access to them. Called “extended amortizations,” 30-year payback periods are still available to anyone getting an...
BMO Capital Markets has taken a “scalpel to [its] Canadian rate forecast,” as itdescribesit. The company now projects just one Bank of Canada rate increase in all of 2019. By comparison, financial traders peg the odds of a rate hike this year at just 49%. That’s according to implied probabilities in the bond market, as tracked by Reuters. BMO is...
Hopefully people don’t believe everything they read, especially when they read stories like this: “Instant mortgages are coming soon – what could go wrong?“ We’ve been meaning to comment on this piece of imaginative writing for a few months now, but real news got in the way. The article, originally published in October—from a respected journalist no less—is heavy on...
If we were betting types, we’d wager that in coming months the government makes it possible to mortgage a 7-figure property with just a modest down payment. Here’s why. At the moment, there is a $1 million property value limit if you want to buy a house with less than 20% down and get the best mortgage rates. That price...
Canada’s banking giants have invested massively in branches and mortgage salesforces. But now mortgages are moving online, and that creates both opportunity and conflict for the Big 6. “Canadians are predominantly using online tools as they start the homebuying journey,” says Pat Giles, VP Real Estate Secured Lending at TD. His bank, like every other, is working hard to be...
Reuters reported Friday that regulators were considering drastic new restrictions on private lending. But given the newswire’s anonymous sources, no one has been able to validate the reporter’s claims. We’re now hearing that Mortgage Professionals Canada President, Paul Taylor, spoke withthe Ministry of Financeabout the article on Friday. According to an internal memo at MPC, a senior policy advisor at...
Imagine if 250,000 to 350,000+ homeowners couldn’t get cost-competitive private mortgages anymore. That’s the potential result if the feds impose a mortgage stress test on private borrowers. And they’re considering just that, according to a Reuters report today. At this point there are more questions than answers, like does this apply just to mortgage investment corporations (MICs) or to all...
The most unexpected trend in the mortgage rate world of late has been the squeezing of variable-rate discounts. The Spy warned ofdiminishing variable-rate discounts last month. Since that time, they’ve shrunk 20 basis points on the most competitive uninsured variables, costing new borrowers over $2,300 more interest over five years on a typical $250,000 mortgage. On the insured side, the...
Comparing mortgage rates is more worthwhile today than it was two years ago, for multiple reasons. For one thing, Canada’s average mortgage balance is now up to$263,657, according to TransUnion. This number has been rising for years, and it’s risen another 4.23% in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2018 (the latest data available). The bigger your mortgage, the mortgage...
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