Solving Canada's National Housing Crisis Begins At Home + MORE Oct 4th

Canada has recently been held up as a shining example of a progressive nation. Just while countries across the Atlantic and south of the border appear to be adopting a more closed door attitude, Canada is forging ahead with inclusive policy and getting recognition for doing what’s right.

This positive momentum places even greater emphasis on an issue that challenges Canada — we are on the verge of a looming housing affordability crisis that comes with dire socio-economic implications for all Canadians if left unchecked.

Over the next three to five years, the bulk of government operating agreements that provide subsidies to co-operatives, non-profit and public housing providers to house more than 540,000 families will come to an end, dramatically affecting many of these families.

According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 12.5 per cent of all Canadian households experience an affordability crisis every day. That will drastically increase as operating agreements conclude…

Mortgage lenders don’t carry enough of the risk of insured mortgages and, as of today’s announcement, this could soon change.
In an effort to reduce the risk to taxpayers, Finance Minister Bill Morneau introduced changes to mortgage insurance rules that will impact both home buyers and banks.
At present, lenders are required to obtain mortgage loan insurance for any high loan-to-value mortgage—a loan where the homebuyer’s down payment or equity in the home is less than 20%. It’s pretty much an industry standard for lenders to pass on the cost of this mortgage insurance to homebuyers.
Ottawa closes foreign buyer tax loophole »
However, lenders can also opt to pass on the risk of a mortgage to taxpayers by paying for mortgage loan insurance, even when the downpayment or the equity in the home is greater than 20%. The insurance is bought and paid for by the lender as it helps defray the downside risk of mortgaging a more expensive property.
However, since last November, the Department of Finance acknowledged that it was examining the impact of shifting more of the risk of insured mortgages onto the banks and mortgage lenders…

Applying for a new mortgage won’t be so easy after today’s announcement by Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau. That’s because anyone looking to buy a home will have to qualify for that new mortgage based on posted rates, not discounted rates.
As MoneySense reported in June, up until now, homebuyers could skirt the rules if they opted for a five-year fixed rate. Rather than qualifying for the higher, posted rate, these buyers could qualify for the loan based on the much lower discounted rates, explained Calum Ross, a Toronto-based independent mortgage broker, who works with high net worth clients as a dually licensed wealth advisor (with his MBA) and mortgage broker.
How this loophole helped homebuyers
Under current Canadian mortgage qualification rules, home buyers can only get a mortgage if their debt-ratios show that they can make payments based on the Bank of Canada’s qualifying rate. This mortgage qualifying rate (MQR) is based on the posted five-year fixed rate and in 2015, it hovered around 4…

The Feds clearly wanted to crack the housing market, and they may have finally done it, with a sledgehammer. New Department of Finance (DoF) rules will hit the mortgage market hard, but consumers will take the brunt of the blow. The two big changes: 1) Effective Oct. 17, the qualification rate will now apply to all insured mortgages (even high- and low-LTV 5-year fixed terms, which is not the case today). 2) Regulators are banning a wide array of mortgages from being insured, effective Nov. 30. One big non-bank lender didn’t mince words when describing today’s DoF’s announcement. “This is a crisis,” the executive told CMT. The lender estimates that READ MORE

Ottawa has announced new rules aimed at limiting foreign money into Canadian real estate and ensuring that borrowers take on mortgages they can afford.