Sloppy Journalism + MORE Nov 6th

It was a move that came as a shock to some but not was not a surprise to others. On November 1st, TD Canada Trust became the first of the big five banks in Canada to raise its prime mortgage rate from 2.7 per cent to 2.85 per cent. The news comes only two weeks after the implementation of brand-new federal mortgage rules, subjecting future homeowners to stricter measures in order to qualify for mortgage insurance, as well as a “stress test” if they are putting down less than 20 per cent on a home purchase.
In a release from TD, the bank says raising the rate is not a decision it takes lightly and they considered the full impact on customers before moving forward with the change. The release states that the bank will communicate directly with their customers whose mortgages are affected. Currently, the move only affects customers with variable rate products, not fixed-rate mortgages or lines of credit.
This Change Affects My Mortgage, so What are My Options?
If you’re affected by the rate hike or if you’re currently negotiating a mortgage with TD, this means the cost of a variable rate mortgage ultimately will increase over the long term…

B.C. Premier Christy Clark thinks it’s a shame that Canadians can’t buy more house than they can afford.

That’s the impression one takes away from a recent tweet, which shows her challenging new mortgage rules that were implemented by the federal government last month.

B.C. Premier Christy Clark, at right, stands with Finance Minister Michael de Jong at the Legislature in Victoria on July 25. (Photo: Chad Hipolito/CP)

On Tuesday, Clark tweeted her agreement with a Facebook post by one of her candidates in the upcoming provincial election. It called on B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman to pressure the federal government to make more changes.

But to make his point, candidate James Lombardi used an example in which a family intends to buy more house than they can afford under the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)’s guidelines.

Lombardi wrote a Facebook post on Monday that was critical of the new rules that aim to ensure borrowers can afford their mortgages.

In doing so, he cited The Globe and Mail’s example of a family making $100,000 qualifying for a mortgage of up to $665,000 with a $40,000 down payment — in other words, the home would cost $705,000, with a down payment of six per cent…

Company: VERICO Canada – National Head Office of Canada’s network of independent mortgage brokers Position: Director of Business Relationships, Western Canada Location: Vancouver, BC Apply to: careers@verico.ca Director of Business Relationships, Western Canada Company Overview: VERICO Canada is the head office of Canada’s #1 Mortgage Broker Network with 200+ offices and 2300+ mortgage brokers.   Job Description: Director of Business Relationships, Western Canada (DBR) – Full-Time Position Years of Experience Required: 8 – 10 years Ideally the candidate will be based in Vancouver, BC. Reporting directly to the President, the DBR will play an integral role to support Verico Brokers READ MORE

In the media’s race to break down last month’s mortgage rule changes, accuracy has seemingly taken a backseat to fast-published, under-researched commentary. Here’s a case in point, a Globe story that ran October 17. (And yes, I hate to criticize my own because the Globe has some extraordinary professional journalists.) But this particular story is drastically misleading by virtue of it omitting or mischaracterizing a slew of essential points, including: A primary reason that banks support the new insurance rules: Limiting which mortgages can be insured eliminates securitization options. That handicaps bank competitors, thus providing banks an opportunity for higher net interest margins. By no means is this the only reason banks support the READ MORE

Homeowners in King Township, Ont., have basically won the lottery.

House prices in the region north of Toronto have nearly doubled in just the past year — up 89.6 per cent since October, 2015, according to data released this week by the Toronto Real Estate Board.

The average house price in King is now $1.919 million, up from $1.012 million a year earlier. House prices there have nearly tripled since 2013.

King Township near Toronto has seen house prices nearly double in a year. (Photo: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine)

With Toronto house prices rising relentlessly year after year, more and more city inhabitants are moving out to the edges, forcing up house prices in places as far from Toronto as Kitchener-Waterloo and St. Catharines.

But the strongest house price growth over the past year has been in some of the most distant parts of Toronto’s 905 suburban region, where many cities have seen nearly 40-per-cent price growth.

It’s this sort of wild price appreciation that the federal Liberals are trying to cool off with the tougher new mortgage rules they introduced last month…