Rarely have the heads of Canada’s housing agency and largest mortgage broker association been at such odds publicly. It feels like CMHC boss Evan Siddall and Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) chief Paul Taylor want to get in the ring and beat the stuffing out of each other. The former published his latest in a series of missives denouncing opponents of...
The details on the government’s much-hyped First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI) continue to trickle out. The latest clues on its operation come from Evan Solomon’s interview with CMHC CEO Evan Siddall. In that interview, Siddall comments on some lingering FTHBI question marks, namely: The Maximum Home Price The maximum home price under the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive ranges from $505,000...
It’s no secret. Many homebuyers that had no trouble qualifying for a mortgage in 2017 are finding big challenges in 2019. As we wrote yesterday, the government’s harsher mortgage “stress test” is a key reason why. The problem is exacerbated by the banks’ refusal to lower their posted 5-year fixed rates, despite a 55-basis-point drop in the 5-year bond yield...
Interested in a rock-bottom rate you see online? You better understand its stipulations. Mortgage rates aren’t as straightforward as people think. The competitiveness of your mortgage rate is heavily influenced by whether your mortgage can be default insured. In some cases—like when you’re buying a home with less than a 20% down payment—you have no choice. You must buy default...
If you’ve been waiting for facts on the government’s new First-Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI), read on. In a statement today, CMHC said “we still have work to do” before bringing it to market. Among other things, it says: “…The proposal requires some government approvals.” “We also plan to consult with lenders and other industry participants to make sure the...
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 debt situation appears to be getting better…if you just look at mortgages. But something sinister lurks beneath the surface. And it’s made of plastic. Indebtedness has been outgrowing incomes in this country, despite stringent new mortgage restrictions.Canadians now owe $1.78 in credit market debt for every dollar of household disposable income, just under the record high. And we keep...
And that’s as the government intended. Albeit, the deceleration may be less pronounced than some might expect, given all the recent headlines about this year’s real estate slowdown and mortgage rule tightening. Here are fresh new mortgage stats from CMHC and Equifax (as of second quarter of 2018): Number of active mortgages: 5.98 million This number essentially stayed the same...
Oh the lengths people will go to squeeze themselves into a new property. That includes putting their home, or at least part of it, on their credit card. Yep, believe it or not, some lenders are more than happy to let you borrow your down payment off a credit card. And government-backed default insurers support it. That’s despite Ottawa outlawing...
Roughly 1 in 6 Canadians work for themselves and CMHC wants to help them get a mortgage. Most notably, the nation’s largest default insurer is allowing lenders more flexibility when approving borrowers with less than two years of self-employment income. If you’re in business for yourself and getting a default-insured mortgage, CMHC has announced the following changes that may help...
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