Last year was an interesting one for the Canadian new and resale housing markets. The introduction of the mandated mortgage stress test set out by theOffice of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) had a significant effect, in that both new and resale home sales were down. First-time buyers were especially affected, as most either
Today’s interest rates are still at jaw-dropping, forehead-slapping, eye-popping lows if you judge by historical standards. So when the Bank of Canada talks about bringing rates back to more normal levels, you better listen up. Rates have already risen in the past 15 months and it now looks like there’s a fair bit more to
How did that kid get such a great mortgage while I’m paying an extra 0.45 per cent a year? The answer is that in 2018, he is a much better credit risk for the bank. This may not make sense on the surface, but let me explain how crazy our mortgage system has become. From
