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Hi All,

Here is a great article I came across on the Toronto and Vancouver housing data that has been collected in regards to non-resident ownership. Read the article  by clicking on the link below.
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Hi All,

Here is a great article I came across on how CMHC is working towards making more lenient regulations for qualifying self employed and New to Canada borrowers. Read the article  by clicking on the link below.
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There is a  survey conduced annually by CMHC that takes a look at mortgage behavior. This survey is considered to be pretty accurate as it only accounts for recent borrowers/buyers. This year’s survey had some very interesting news in that consumers have been turning more and more to brokers. It is important to note that when consumers are looking for mortgage information, 78% turn to the internet for answers. This is why it is so important for all brokers to have a web presence, whether it be a website, a blog, Facebook business page, or linked in. The highly rated in terms of being helpful, would be blogging, as consumers commented it gave them good pointers and tips.
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Based on inquires and request by the industry, CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) has agreed to make their mortgage portfolio more public than as it currently stands. CMHC has now released information on specific details on the mortgages it insures. They control about 60% of the market in terms of default insurance and talks about how many mortgages it has insured that are high risk loans (80% or less down payment). This new report they are launching has detailed information about how the mortgage insurance operates and include data that helps them analyze the housing market as whole. As well, the report will include information on geographical break down of the loans and its divide based on mortgage amount and amortization (how long the client has set to take them to pay off the mortgage entirely).
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The Canadian National Housing Agency has increased the Premium amount for mortgages by 15%. This insurance premium is charged when home buyers have less than 20% down payment to put on their purchase. This increase will take affect as of May 1st, 2014. Before the increase was announced, premiums were in the range between 0.5% – 2.75%. However, with this increase the ranges are now between 0.6% – 3.15%. The individuals who would be most impacted by this increase are the home buyers who are only putting 5% down payment. Since this is the lowest amount you can put down on a home, it would hurt them the most and take a big chunk out of the down payment.
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The Canadian National Housing Agency has increased the Premium amount for mortgages by 15%. This insurance premium is charged when home buyers have less than 20% down payment to put on their purchase. This increase will take affect as of May 1st, 2014. Before the increase was announced, premiums were in the range between 0.5% – 2.75%. However, with this increase the ranges are now between 0.6% – 3.15%. The individuals who would be most impacted by this increase are the home buyers who are only putting 5% down payment. Since this is the lowest amount you can put down on a home, it would hurt them the most and take a big chunk out of the down payment.
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Sales and construction of new homes will be steadily increasing this year as the economy starts to rise up again. This boost in the economy will ensure rates stay on the low side, with increase expected to happen but not too much of a jump is predicted. CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Cooperation) predicts that the housing market is set to calm this year but prices still slowly climbing higher in value.
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The Government of Canada made some changes to High Ratio mortgage financing rules yesterday.  It is the fourth change since 2008.  The changes take effect July 9^th.
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CMHC announced that it will pull back on its growth of insured mortgage funding over the next 5 years.  With total mortgages insured by CMHC close to 557 billion by the end of the year the government has put pressure on CMHC to start to slow down on amount of mortgages they insure.
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The federal budget due March 29 almost certainly will unveil the government’s thinking on the future of the Canadian covered bond market. This may prove strangely important, because covered bonds lie at the heart of one of the most contentious public policy issues in the Canadian financial system.
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