Mortgage Changes Impacting Mobile Homes + MORE Jun 14th

Canadians owed $1.67 in consumer credit, mortgages, and non-mortgage loans for every dollar of household disposable income in the first quarter of 2017, a slight quarterly decrease as household net worth rose from the end of 2016.

One of the seemingly unintended groups to fall victim to the government’s latest mortgage changes is owners of mobile homes, according to some concerned mortgage brokers who are seeing the effects on their clients. The issue stems from the new rule that prohibits insured properties from being refinanced, and that most lenders require mobile homes […]

Federal MPs are hearing from Canada’s big banks as a parliamentary committee explores allegations of questionable sales practices at major financial institutions.
The committee launched the hearings following media reports citing unnamed employees at some banks who allege they were pressured to sell unnecessary products and services in order to boost profits and hit lofty sales objectives.
Representatives of the country’s largest banks, including CIBC, Scotiabank, TD, BMO, National Bank and RBC, are testifying before the committee.
Officials from the big banks are denying the accusations and defending their practices by insisting they put the needs of their customers first, enforce codes of conduct, regularly seek staff and client feedback and address any inappropriate behaviour.
They all say the allegations in the reports, which were first broadcast by the CBC, are unacceptable and that all issues with client interactions are taken very seriously.
Last week, the committee heard allegations through first- and second-hand accounts made by former bank employees that workers feel pressure to hit unreasonable sales goals, entice clients into raising their credit-card limits and offer mortgages beyond what clients can reasonably afford…

The Problem
David, 31, is an engineer and lives in Toronto with his wife Alex and two-year-old son Leo. Both his father and grandfather were investors and he sees the six-figure estate that he inherited in January as a legacy that he really wants to continue. “My grandfather was a famous mining engineer in Canada and he worked worldwide during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s building up a respectable mining business. He passed away in 1979 and my father managed the portfolio my grandfather left him for several years on his own.”
But in his the last couple of years his father’s ill health meant David had to take on more and more of the responsibility for managing his dad’s investments and he learned a lot. “I now realize that through active management we underperformed,” says David. “We would have done better with a passive strategy.” Apart from modest investments in RRSPs and TFSAs, David also owns a home in Toronto with a small mortgage left on it where he plans to live and grow his family…

TORONTO — Canada’s federal housing agency says the average scheduled monthly mortgage payment for new loans climbed to $1,328 in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 4.6 per cent from $1,269 a year ago.

The increase came as house prices continued to rise, particularly in the cities of Toronto and Vancouver and their surrounding areas.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the fact that the average scheduled monthly payment is growing faster than inflation is concerning because it suggests that homeowners could struggle to make their payments going forward.

In Toronto, the average payment was $1,826 during the fourth quarter of last year, up 11.5 per cent from $1,638 a year prior.

In Vancouver, it rose by 4.5 per cent to $1,936 from $1,853 in the fourth quarter of 2015.

CMHC, which obtained the data from credit monitoring agency Equifax, says mortgage delinquency rates during the fourth quarter of 2016 were 0.34 per cent nationwide compared with 0.35 per cent a year earlier.

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