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 […]

March 2 (Bloomberg) — The Bank of Canada kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low today, and said that inflation and economic output have been higher than policy makers expected, signaling rate increases in coming months. The target rate for overnight loans between commercial banks remained at 0.25 percent, where it’s been since […]

  A 300k mortgage can go up $120 a month with the new suggested rate hikes of 50basis point increases that can happen 4-6 times throughout the 2nd half of 2010 and through 2011.   Call 604-802-3983 or tune into The Mortgage Show with AMP of the year Canadawide Angela Calla on CKNW AM980 7pm to […]

Paul Vieira, Financial Post      OTTAWA — Pressure on the Bank of Canada to move early on raising interest rates mounted Monday after data on fourth-quarter gross domestic product suggested the economy is roaring its way out of recession after recording the fastest pace of growth in nearly a decade.   The central bank […]

Mortgage Bytes *The Bank of Canada should uphold its conditional pledge to keep its key policy rate at 0.25% until July but should then embark on sharp rate hikes of 50 basis points at every announcement date until mid-2011, says an analysis prepared for the CD Howe Institute.    *The call for sharp rate increases […]

New mortgage rules Paul Vieira, Financial Post with files from Garry Marr in Toronto  OTTAWA — Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, says he is targeting “reckless” speculators who buy up multiple condominium units in the country’s biggest cities with new rules introduced yesterday that will make it tougher for Canadians to get a mortgage. The […]

MORTGAGE INSURANCE RULES ANNOUNCEMENT This morning, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced prudent changes to mortgage insurance rules intended to come into force on April 19, 2010. CAAMP and it’s members was actively engaged in the discussions around these changes which are as follows:  1. All borrowers must meet the standards for a five-year fixed rate […]