Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker for Latest Insurance Trends

Mortgage Insurance Trends For those interested in how the mortgage industry works, you could always ask a Vancouver mortgage broker. Otherwise, you might want to check out the quarterly reports and earnings calls for Genworth MI Canada. According to Genworth, new government restrictions will have an impact on the mortgage insurance market; the market will […]

Buying a house? Don’t go to the bank

I sold my property last week and I’m in a mad scramble to find a new home. With my wish list in hand and a pre-approved mortgage under my belt, I’m confident I’ll eventually find what I’m looking for. Much to the chagrin of my financial planner, a bank employee, I’ve decided to use an […]

The State of Stated Income

Canada has 2.67 million self-employed citizens, about 15% of the work force, says CAAMP. Due to how they report income and deduct expenses, these individuals are frequently reliant on stated income mortgages. A few weeks back, Bloomberg quoted Canada’s bank regulator, OSFI, as saying stated income mortgages “have some similarities to non-prime loans in the U.S.” Just weeks before that, CMHC announced limits on bulk mortgage insurance, which […]

CMHC Insurance Limits: A Wake-up Call for Lenders

Many have now seen thisNational Post article. The gist of it: CMHC is approaching its $600 billion government-imposed limit on issuing mortgage default insurance. That’s happening largely because of lenders’ enormous appetite for something called portfolio insurance (a.k.a., “bulk insurance”). No one fully grasps the repercussions yet, but our sense is that the news is not […]

Top 5 Mortgage Trends of 2011

Cheap money fuelled anotherbuoyant year for real estate in 2011. That helped housing values climb a wall of worry (prices rose another 4.6% Y/Y as of November) despite numerous predictions of a correction. Mortgage balances went along for the ride, growing another 7%. 2011 was a year marked by new mortgage regulations and a rate market that continually surprised most […]

Garry Marr, Financial Post · Aug. 23, 2011 | Everybody loves a deal and the best way to find one is to demand one. If you are looking for ways to reduce your monthly expenses, imagine being able to accomplish that without giving up a thing. Sometimes it’s as simple as picking up the phone and […]

10% Down Payments & Other Policy Debates

Housing accounts for an immense 1/5th of Canada’s GDP. That makes mortgage debt and housing policy enormously important topics from an economic standpoint. With the stakes so high, it’s painful to watch critics exhort blanket changes to mortgage rules, based primarily on their opinions in lieu of credible data. Case in point is this editorial […]

Five life insurance questions you should ask

If you’re in the market for life insurance, you might have been tempted by those ads claiming that “for just a few dollars a day, you can protect your family with $1-million in life insurance!” It sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it? These ads typically refer to term life insurance. As its name implies, […]

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