Sagen Overtakes CMHC as Canada’s Largest Mortgage Default Insurer The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) has reportedly lost its title as Canada’s largest provider of mortgage default insurance. The national housing agency’s total market share has slipped to just under 30%, according to a report by RATESDOTCA. That marks a steep decline from CMHC’s market share […]

First-Time Home Buyer Incentive 2.0 Now Available Long-awaited tweaks to the government’s First-Time Home Buyer Incentive came into effect on Monday. Nearly five months after the changes were first proposed, the Department of Finance and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) have enhanced the eligibility criteria for buyers in Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. As a recap, […]

A Pre-Approval Does Not Guarantee a Mortgage Approval Many Canadians are under the assumption their mortgage is as good as done once they have a mortgage pre-approval. But the truth is a buyer cannot expect a mortgage pre-approval will automatically translate into a mortgage. The lender now needs to consider the property itself, approve all […]

Latest in Mortgage News: House Price Growth to Cool by End of Year: TD TD Bank is forecasting that home prices have further to rise yet before finally starting to lose steam by the end of the year. “…with markets remaining historically tight, more near-term gains are in the cards,” wrote TD economist Rishi Sondhi in a […]

High Home Prices a Growing Obstacle for First-Time Buyers The ongoing surge in home prices across the country is discouraging a large number of young non-homeowners, many of whom say they’re giving up on the dream of homeownership altogether. More than a third (36%) of non-homeowners under 40 believe they will never own a home, […]

What is All the Policy Hysteria About? Today the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released statistics showing national existing home sales hit another all-time high in March. What was arguably more noteworthy was that new listings hit their highest level on record in seasonally adjusted terms in March. Prices continued to rise as sales dwarfed the new supply. The number of […]

Blockbuster Canadian Jobs Report for March.  Blowout Canadian Job Growth Continued In March This morning, Statistics Canada released the March 2021 Labour Force Survey showing much stronger-than-expected job growth for the second month in a row, pointing towards a Q1 growth rate of more than 5.5%. This survey reflected labour market conditions during the week […]

Homebuyers to Face More Stringent Mortgage Stress Test After June 1 Canada’s banking regulator has proposed changes that would strengthen the stress test applied to uninsured mortgages. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) unveiled its proposed changes on Thursday, which would require borrowers applying for uninsured mortgages—typically those with more than a […]

OSFI Considers Setting a Minimum Qualifying Rate of 5.25% For Uninsured Mortgages Banking Regulator Aims To Make It Tougher To Get An Uninsured Mortgage   With several Big-Five bank CEOs calling for regulatory action to slow the red-hot housing market, it didn’t take long for the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the governor […]

The Latest in Mortgage News: OSFI to Re-launch Review of the Uninsured Stress Test Canada’s bank regulator has announced it will restart a review of the stress test rate on uninsured mortgages. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) said it will “resume its policy work on the minimum qualifying rate for uninsured […]