Our national housing agency wants to put your mind at ease, sort of. CMHC published its annual stress test this week. Its report claimed CMHC would remain solvent barring a catastrophic scenario entailing: a 48% home price crash, 25% unemployment, and no government intervention (full details here). The report made headlines across the media, as unlikely as some of its...
A Two-Month High for the 5-year Yield Canada’s #1 fixed mortgage rate indicator, the 5-year bond yield, has stubbornly refused to challenge its March record low. And now it has turned upwards, closing Thursday at the highest level in two months: 0.44%. Concerns over inflation and massive government debt issuance are two key reasons. A close above 0.55% could indicate...
—The Mortgage Report: July 21— A Seldom-used Strategy: Usually, it doesn’t make sense to buy default insurance on your mortgage if you have a big down payment. But there are exceptions, like when you have 35% equity and the difference between insured and insurable mortgage rates is 15 basis points or more. In those infrequent cases, you end up saving...
Many of you know that the lowest mortgage rates in Canada often require default insurance. Insurance reduces credit risk and losses for lenders, and lenders often pass that savings through to consumers. What many don’t know is how to get insured rates if you already have a mortgage. Consider this example… Suppose youbought a $900,000 home a few years ago...
In 2012, Canadians lost the ability to buy $1 million+ homes with less than 20% down. The Finance Department put the kibosh on it, in its hotly debated quest to “reduce taxpayer risk.” But now, there’s hope that well-qualified borrowers will once again be able to buy a 7-figure shack with just 10% down. Genworth Canada, the nation’s biggest private...
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 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...
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