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...
One of the worst mortgage policies in Canadian history could come to an end by next year. That is, if the Conservatives win the October 21 federal election. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer summarizedthe problem for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association on Friday, saying: “If you want to switch lenders you have to go through the stress test. But if...
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...
After all the build-up, Canada’s federal budget is finally here. There was no easing to maximum mortgage amortizations or the mortgage stress test, as some had expected. What the government did was throw Canadian mortgage shoppers two bones, with lots of strings attached. Here’s a detailed look at two of the ways the Liberal government proposes to “ease” housing affordability....
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...
After the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) released its critical report on HELOCs Tuesday, industry folks started wondering what the regulator is going to do with this information. We asked the agency and it told us,“FCAC’s mandate includes the responsibility to monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of financial products and...
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...
For more than a year we’ve speculated that new rules will be adopted, making it tougher to qualify for a HELOC. How could they not? The Bank of Canada, OSFI, CMHC and FCAC have all been warning about HELOC risk for months. And when multiple government agencies target a financial product, change is a’comin. And now it’s here. Banks are...
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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