By The Canadian Press TORONTO – Prices for all key housing types were up more than 10 per cent across Canada in the first quarter, although some markets were hotter than others. That’s according to a national real-estate survey by Royal LePage, which says the Canadian housing market will likely become more moderate as […]

There is a small loophole in the new federal mortgage rules that could make it easier for the banks to lend out money to first-time buyers. The federal government announced last month new requirements for anyone borrowing money for a house and needing mortgage insurance. If you have less than a 20% down payment and […]

Should you lock in your mortgage or let it float with a variable rate? Toronto-Based wealth manager Scott Tomenson makes the case for variable. ARE VARIABLE MORTGAGES AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK? Q: My fiance and I have just bought our first home and we are going in circles about what is the best mortgage […]

By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press OTTAWA – Canadians could be facing higher interest rates sooner than previously thought as a result of stubborn inflation and stronger economic growth, Bank of Canada Mark Carney said Wednesday. Carney did not declare higher rates were on the way, but issued his clearest signal to date that his […]

Jeremy Torobin Ottawa — From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Mar. 19, 2010 10:21PM EDT Last updated on Monday, Mar. 22, 2010 6:16AM EDT The clock is ticking on Canada’s record-low borrowing costs, as inflation continues to move at a faster rate than the central bank had expected. The hot reading on inflation […]

James Pasternak, Financial Post  It is a legal document that stretches about 30 pages and runs about 10,000 words. Its execution takes no more than a couple minutes and when the ink dries on the signature lines, more times than not it is never read and gets slipped into a file folder, largely forgotten. But […]

Nicolas Van Praet, Financial Post Montreal — The era of fearing Canada’s high-flying loonie might finally be passed. Trading near US98.6¢, the dollar is now the closest it’s been to one-on-one status with the U.S. greenback since July 2008. And Jim Flaherty, Canada’s finance minister isn’t flinching. “We see where it’s at now and it’s […]

Clarification on Qualifying Interest Rate   On February 16th, the government announced new parameters regarding the application of the government guarantee supporting the mortgage insurance industry, but did not stipulate the rules around qualifying interest rates. Effective April 19th, 2010, the qualifying interest rate used to assess borrower eligibility will change only for loans with […]

CMHC Self-Employed Policy Changes to Come into Force April 9th & Clarification on Qualifying Interest Rate for April 19th Changes   CMHC Self-Employed Policy Changes   Mortgage loan insurance applications submitted to CMHC on or after April 9th, 2010 will include different criteria for self-employed borrowers without traditional third-party validation of income.   CMHC is […]

The MBABC has confirmed that the following will be the qualifying interest rate on new high ratio mortgage applications as of April 19th.   For loans with a fixed term of less then 5 years and for all variable rate mortgages, regardless of term, the qualifying interest rate is the greater of: the benchmark rate the […]