CMHC Makes It More Difficult To Get An Insured Mortgage Once again, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is tightening the criteria to get a mortgage with less than a 20% down payment. Any potential home buyer with less than a 20% down payment must purchase default insurance on their loan and have a […]

Bank of Canada Takes A More Positive Tone On the heels of a devastating decline in the Canadian economy, the Bank of Canada suggested today that the worst of the pandemic’s negative impact on the global economy is behind us, conceding, however, that uncertainty remains high. The Bank today maintained its target overnight rate at […]

Record Declines in Canadian Home Sales and Listings in April   The pandemic shutdown has put every sector of the economy into a medically induced coma, so, of course, the housing sector is no exception. Data released this morning from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed national home sales fell a record 56.8% in April, […]

Bank of Canada Stands Ready To Do Whatever It Takes   On the heels of a devastating decline in the Canadian economy, the Bank of Canada is taking unprecedented actions. With record job losses, plunging confidence and a shutdown of most businesses, this month’s newly released Monetary Policy Report (MPR) is a portrait of extreme financial […]

Housing Market Another Victim of the Virus     Data released this morning from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) showed national home sales fell 14.3% on a month-over-month (m-o-m) basis in March, the first national indication of the early impact of social isolation. The economic disruption and massive layoffs caused both buyers and sellers to […]

CHIP Reverse Mortgage Wouldn’t it be nice if you had the money to do more of the things you want to do? A CHIP Reverse Mortgage could be just what you need. It’s the simple and sensible way to unlock the value in your home and turn it into cash to help you enjoy life […]

  Why Are Mortgage Rates Rising?   Over the past month, the Bank of Canada has lowered its overnight rate by a whopping 1.5 percentage points to a mere 0.25%. Many people expected mortgage rates to fall equivalently. The banks have reduced prime rates by the full 150 basis points (bps). But, since the second […]

  Bank of Canada Moves to Restore “Financial Market Functionality”   The Bank of Canada today lowered its target for the overnight rate by 50 basis points to ¼ percent. This unscheduled rate decision brings the policy rate to its effective lower bound and is intended to provide support to the Canadian financial system and […]

Beginning today, the Bank of Canada is lowering its target for the overnight rate by 50 basis points to 0.75%. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 percent and the deposit rate is 0.50 percent. The unscheduled rate decision is the second in as many weeks. In a statement, the central bank stated this was “a […]

  The planned change and review of the mortgage stress test has slipped down the priority list for the Canadian government due to the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis. Until the outbreak, it was expected that Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) would consider changes after a consultation with stakeholders. It was hoped this would make the rate […]