If your mortgage term matures in the next 2 years, you should act now to find out what you should expect for your next term’s monthly payment amount. It is probably going to be much higher than you expect and you should begin preparing now. – The future is coming. Part of me feels ridiculous writing that, but when I… Read More »
Major Mortgage Regulatory Changes since 2006
Is the mortgage approval process different now than it was ‘back in the day’? Yes, definitely yes. Here is a list of some of the key regulatory changes that have occurred in the Canadian mortgage industry since 2006. 2006 Introduction of the first set of guidelines for federally regulated financial institutions, known as the “Guideline B-20,” by the Office of… Read More »
A Buyer’s Journey
The home-buying process is more complicated now than it ever has been, and unfortunatley that trend doesn’t look to be going away anytime soon. Every year, our industry regulators and the provincial and federal governments seem to add extra rules to mortgage qualification and the process of purchasing or selling property, and even experienced property buyers who have bought and… Read More »
New Anti-Flipping Rules from the Federal Government
New anti-house-flipping federal tax rules came into effect this year (Jan 1, 2023) aimed to reduce speculation and encourage long-term home ownership. These rules will now tax the profits from the sale of residential property as business income if the seller owned the property for fewer than 12 months. This means the sale of the property held for less than… Read More »
Fixed Rates on the Rise!
Fixed rates are moving up – if you’re thinking of buying in the spring, you should get pre-approved and lock in a rate hold now. January’s inflation numbers came out for the U.S. today, and while they did show a slight decrease from December on most measures, the decrease was less than many banks and investors were hoping to see.… Read More »
Remember to Claim Your First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit
Did you buy a home last year? As Canadians start to file their 2022 taxes, make sure that you or your friends and family are taking advantage of the First Time Homebuyer tax credit available for qualified ‘first’ home purchases in 2022. Even if you’ve owned a home before, you may be able to claim up to $10,000 for the purchase… Read More »
Inflation Continues to Cool: What does it mean for my mortgage?
The August inflation data have been released, and it has some good news for anyone with a variable rate mortgage or debt on a Line of Credit; for the second month in a row, the rate of inflation has decreased. August’s inflation rate fell to 7% on an annualized basis, down from 7.6% in July and from the peak of… Read More »
Prime Rate Expected to Increase Next Week
The next BOC meeting is next Wednesday, Sept 7th, 2022. We anticipate that they will increase the Prime lending rate by something between 0.50% to 1.00%. In terms of mortgages, this increase only impacts variable/adjustable-rate mortgage holders since the banks and mortgage lenders typically increase their consumer Prime rates in step with the central bank’s Prime rate. If you have a… Read More »
Interest Rates and Inflation Troubles
The Bank of Canada (BoC) is next meeting on Jul 13, 2022 and at the moment it looks likely that it will raise the Prime interest rate by another 0.5% to 0.75%. A 0.75% Prime rate increase will mean that people with variable rate mortgages will see their payments increase by $40/month for every $100,000 of mortgage debt (so a… Read More »
Bank of Canada Rate Announcement – June 2022
On June 1st the Bank of Canada (BoC) increased the Prime Rate 1% to 1.5%, an increase of 0.50% that was widely anticipated by the markets. For consumer banks and mortgage lenders, this means they will be raising their consumer Prime rates from 3.2% up to 3.7% on all variable and adjustable rate mortgages as well as Lines of Credit.… Read More »