According to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), national home sales in September rose modestly from the previous month but remained below levels recorded one year ago. Resale activity was 12% below the record set in March, before the April announcement of a 15% foreign buyers’ tax and a sixteen-point program to enhance housing affordability […]

News Release For Immediate Release OTTAWA – October 17, 2017 – Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada Today the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) published the final version of Guideline B-20 − Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures. The revised Guideline, which comes into effect on January 1, 2018, applies […]

A mortgage in its simplest form is a contract. It has terms, conditions, rights and obligations for you and the lender. When you sign on the dotted line, you are agreeing to those terms for the length of time laid out in the contract. However, sometimes life throws us an unexpected event that brings around […]

Another organisation has added its voice to those opposing OSFI proposals to introduce tougher lending restrictions for uninsured mortgages and warns it could harm competition in the mortgage industry. The Fraser Institute says that requiring a stress test with a margin of 2 percentage points above the agreed rate for those homebuyers with at least […]

No one wants to be told that they are not allowed to have something. We live in Canada; as Canadians, our focus has always been to strive for better and for more. That said, there appears to be a growing trend around co-sharing which means people are increasingly moving away from owning their own cars, […]

Like many of you, I received a call last week, from my mortgage provider, asking whether I wanted to “lock in” a new five-year fixed rate. The rate was a special offer and would only last for the week, so I would need to make a decision quickly, with little time to think about the […]

The average Toronto area re-sale home price rose by about $43,000 or 6 per cent in September compared with August — a sign, say some realtors, that the slumped market is waking up, or at least levelling off. “The increase in price is seasonal, but it’s still a positive sign because it tells you the market […]

A year after the federal government introduced a slew of mortgage rule changes, including a stringent mortgage stress test, Dominion Lending Centres argues that the entire housing market could be imperilled if left unrectified. “If the rules don’t change, you’re going to see an impact in the marketplace, and it’s a domino effect,” Dave Teixeira, DLC’s vice president […]

Housing affordability in Canada hit the worst level in 27 years in the second quarter of this year, according to a Royal Bank of Canada report. RBC Economics said in a report Friday that its housing affordability measure for Canada deteriorated for the eighth straight quarter. The Toronto area was the hardest hit, where RBC says affordability […]

The national housing agency is exploring ways to make it easier for entrepreneurs and new immigrants to buy a home by cutting some of the red tape required to prove they can afford to pay the mortgage. “Right now, under our mortgage insurance policies, you have to be able to document income to get mortgage […]