First-Timers Delaying Homebuying + MORE Jan 11th

Canada’s subprime mortgage providers are increasingly teaming up with unregulated rivals to sidestep rules designed to clamp down on risky lending, even as regulators have tightened lending standards to shield borrowers in case a decade-long housing boom goes bust.

Nearly half of Ontario’s first-time buyers say they’ll delay their home purchase as a result of the federal government’s new mortgage rules introduced in October. As part of the government’s new stress-testing measures, buyers with less than a 20% down payment must now prove they can afford a payment at the BoC benchmark rate (currently 4.64%). That change alone will force approximately 45% of first-time homebuyers to postpone their purchase while they continue building up their down payment, according to a recent Ipsos poll conducted for the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). “It’s important to remember who’s being affected by measures that READ MORE

Luxury house at dusk in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo: Kara Mysh via Getty Images)

Written by Wayne Karl

Prospective homebuyers face a growing list of challenges — from skyrocketing prices in Vancouver and Toronto, to soft conditions in Alberta, to another round of mortgage rule changes.

But there are some good reasons 2017 is still a good year to buy a home in Canada — if you can afford it.

1. A pause for the cause

Slowing price growth in Vancouver and Toronto is a positive development for would-be buyers. Spared from double-digit price growth year after year, purchasers will no doubt appreciate a pause, as it may crack open a window of opportunity.

“[Supply] is not what is pushing new homes to record prices – stupidity is.”

Affordability is a serious concern in these two markets. In the GTA, resale home sales in Toronto hit a record high in 2016 for the second consecutive year, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). The overall average price for 2016 was $729,922 — up 17…

CALGARY _ The Calgary Real Estate Board says the city’s housing market is expected to stabilize, with some prices forecast to rise this year.
In its 2017 forecast, the board says benchmark detached house prices are projected to climb by 0.8 per cent in 2017 after falling 4.7 per cent since oil prices began falling in 2014.
Benchmark condo prices are expected to fall another two per cent this year, though that comes after falling 11.3 per cent since the economic downturn began.
For all types of homes, sales volume is expected to climb three per cent from last year to 18,335 properties sold _ though that remains off long-term averages.
Still, board chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says high unemployment, rising mortgage rates, low net migration, and a slow recovery in the energy sector are expected to continue to weigh on the housing sector.
She emphasized that any recovery will be slow, with some ongoing risk as uncertainty in the economy continues.
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