In Canada, the cheapest mortgage rates are usually available on insured (or insurable) mortgages. But refinances cannot be insured thanks to rule changes in 2016. That’s been a problem for folks with existing mortgages—particularly those who have “collateral charges.” Collateral charges are mortgages that readvance or have a line of credit attached to them. Examples include the: RBC Homeline Scotiabank...
It’s been two and a half years since Ontario’s biggest credit union (Meridian) announced its new digital bank (motusbank), and now it’s here. motusbank brings mortgage shoppers one helluva good offering. For one thing, its process is super easy and fully online. That’s becoming mandatory for time-pressed, smartphone-addicted borrowers. More importantly, by eschewing bricks and mortars, the bank can trim...
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...
Most consumers are underinformed about HELOCs. 27% of HELOC holders are only making interest-only payments most/all of the time. Too many HELOC holders may be using them to overspend. Those were key findings from today’sFinancial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) report on HELOCs. HELOCs have been the single-biggest contributor to rising non-mortgage household debt over the past 15 years—”more than...
Were TD’s bombshell new HELOC rules inspired by the government’s master plan? You be the judge. Our take: HELOC rule changesare about more than just stopping speculators from funding secondary properties. And TD’s move is just a precursor. Regulators won’t come right out and say it, but people we talk to are certain that OSFI and the Department of Finance...
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...
HELOCs have been getting a bad rap ever since the FCAC proclaimedin 2017 that “home equity lines of credit may put consumers at risk.” Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz then followed soon after by including HELOCs in a speech about what keeps him up at night. Policy-makers’ concern is that HELOC rates are rising and people are using them...
Home equity line of credit (HELOC) balances are growing more than twice as fast as mortgages, shows a new report by CMHC. That will certainly raise more eyebrows in Ottawa. The government has been closely surveillingHELOC riskfor a few years now. Their concern: homeowners are relying too much on HELOCs, taking on debt that’ll slow their consumption in the future...
HELOC balances appear to be surging at their fastest pace in five years—even faster than mortgages, reports Bloomberg. That’s got ever-vigilant regulators raising an eyebrow. And it’s got certain lenders we talk to expecting HELOCs to be the next area of mortgage rule tightening. Under the Microscope Currently, 2 in 5 secured residential loans in this country (roughly 3 million)...
If you like low mortgage rates, there was good news from Canada’s housing agency Wednesday. CMHC CEO Evan Siddall said a proposal to have lenders potentially share losses when insured borrowers default is now on the back burner. This Department of Finance scheme was sold as a way to encourage more prudence in lender underwriting. But it also threatened to...
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