CAAMP: Major Job Losses From Amortization Change – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

CAAMP: Major Job Losses From Amortization Change Killing 30-yearamortizations on high-ratio insured mortgages was a move that some criticized and some applauded. But few could measure the potential side effects when the decision was made last July. But now, Will Dunning, Chief Economist at the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP), has put out data […]

What first-time buyers really need: affordable housing prices – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

What first-time buyers really need: affordable housing prices DIANNE NICE The Globe and Mail  While mortgage brokers are pressing the federal government to bring back 30-year mortgages and give first-time buyers a bigger tax break, Globe and Mail readers are not convinced that easing mortgage rules is the answer to the problem. When the Globe and Mail […]

Canadians can still buy a house without saving their pennies – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

It would seem that regulators want to dissuade Canadians from buying homes with nothing down. Yet despite all of the recent changes, buyers can still get into the real estate market with little cash on hand. Ottawa did away with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp .-insured 100 per cent financing back in 2008. Home buyers with few […]

Why the housing market won’t crash in 2013

The 12-month change in the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index has decelerated in recent months to 3.4 per cent, led by declines in Vancouver (-1.4 per cent) and Victoria (-1.7 per cent). Some people interpret this weakness as a sign that a housing crash has started – see, for example, the Canadian Business article “Canada’s […]

Top 2012 housing stories, from crash warnings to rent vs. buy – From your Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Consumers must be getting tired of hearing the experts cry wolf about rising interest rates and a housing crash. Rates haven’t moved much if at all for most terms, if anything they’ve fallen and stayed put. Mortgages still hover around 3% for anyone willing to lock in for five years and consumers have been doing […]

The end of mortgage growth? Not yet – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Friday, November 2, 2012 BOYD ERMAN For all the talk of rule changes slowing the growth of the Canadian mortgage market, some surprising statistics from the Bank of Canada show that has not been happening in any significant way. Policy makers trying to cool the growth of household debt and home prices may not like […]

Prepaid credit cards face tighter rules – Ask a Vancouver Mortgage Broker

Ottawa is stepping in with new rules for the largely unregulated prepaid credit card market. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced Wednesday that in the future, issuers of prepaid cards will not be able to impose expiry dates and must be up front about hidden fees and conditions. The move is part of the government’s expanding […]

Ottawa tightening mortgage rules; no more 30-year amortizations

The federal government is moving again to tighten the rules on mortgage lending in Canada amid growing concerns that the housing market is overhere The country’s biggest banks were caught off guard on Wednesday night as the Department of Finance prepared to clamp down on mortgages by reducing the maximum amortization for a government-insured mortgage […]

Banking watchdog backs off its get-tough approach to mortgage lending

By Susan Pigg Business Reporter Ottawa’s banking watchdog has backed down on one of its toughest proposals for reining in household debt — making sure that Canadians’ credit risk is evaluated every time they renew their mortgages. In an unusual “interim update” of tighter lending guidelines it hopes to issue this summer, the Office of the Superintendent […]

Renovation Spending at $20.9 Billion Across 10 Major Centres

OTTAWA, June 7, 2012 — An estimated 1.7 million households in 10 major centres undertook renovations in 2011 according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC’s) Renovation and Home Purchase Survey released today. This represents about 37 per cent of homeowner households, a slight decrease from 42 per cent, or 1.9 million households, in 2010. The estimated average cost of renovations undertaken in 2011 was $13,709, an […]

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