Today, you and your spouse go looking for a new home. You’re excited because after years of scrimping and saving, you can finally afford your own place.

You’ve engaged a realtor and he’s called you to say that he’s found your new home. You visit the property and while its not perfect, your realtor insists that this is the home for you. He says there’s nothing else available that’s better suited and urges you to make an offer. He mentions at one point that he’s actually the owner of the property he’s showed you. You make an offer at the price he suggests and, hey presto, the offer is accepted!

You move in at the end of the month, happy that you’ve at least got a roof over your head.

It all sounds pretty unbelievable, doesn’t it? You can’t really imagine doing that, can you?

Let’s look at a similar scenario; one where you make a very similar choice.

A month or two earlier, you casually mention to your mum and dad that you’re going to start looking for a home. They’re both pleased and proud – they ask about your mortgage financing – and recommend you go see their account manager at Big Blue Blank.

Like most Canadians, you prefer going to the dentist over applying for credit, so after you meet with Cal from Big Blue, you’re pleased and relieved when he calls you later that day to say you’ve been pre approved for financing at a fixed rate. He’s even guaranteed the rate for 90 days! When you end up buying that not so perfect home, the mortgage is in place in a blink of an eye.

This time, the whole scenario is way more familiar, isn’t it? Why is the second scenario any more acceptable than the first?

A Mortgage Brokers’ value proposition is based upon the ability to offer independent advice about multiple products provided by multiple lending partners.

How we demonstrate that proposition is by providing both advice and options; advice on not only obtaining the right financing, but also repayment strategies and strategies to handle a changing interested rate environment.

By combining options on rates, terms, repayment privileges and to minimize penalties, we provide you with the one thing you didn’t get in either of the two scenarios – informed choice.

Dealing with a broker, any broker, gives each of us back something we are always looking for; control.

Courtesy of Jonathan Barlow, – DLC A Better Way

Mortgages are a funny thing. On the one hand they allow you to become a home owner without saving up enough money to purchase the home outright, which is a really good thing. On the other hand, even at today’s really low interest rates, as they are amortized over a really long time (most of the time 25 years), they can cost you a lot more money in the long run. With the government tightening mortgage qualification, chances are securing your most recent mortgage wasn’t a painless process.
So now that you finally have a mortgage, and you’re a home owner, the first thing you should do is figure out how to get rid of your mortgage! Here are 4 ways you can do that!

ACCELERATE YOUR PAYMENT FREQUENCY
Making the change from monthly payments to accelerated bi-weekly payments is one of the easiest ways you can make a difference to the bottom line of your mortgage. Most people don’t even notice the difference.
A traditional mortgage splits the amount owing into 12 equal monthly payments. Accelerated biweekly is simply taking a regular monthly payment and dividing it in two, but instead of making 24 payments, you make 26. The extra two payments really accelerate the pay down of your mortgage.

INCREASE YOUR MORTGAGE PAYMENT AMOUNT
Unless you opted for a “no-frills” mortgage, chances are you have the ability to increase your regular mortgage payment by 10-25%. This is a great option if you have some extra cash flow to spend in your budget. This money will go directly towards paying down the principal amount owing on your mortgage, and isn’t a prepayment of interest. The more money you can pay down when you first get your mortgage the better, as it has a compound effect, meaning you will pay less interest over the life of your mortgage.
Also, by voluntarily increasing your mortgage payment, it’s kinda like signing up for a long term forced savings plan where equity builds in your house rather than your bank account.

MAKE A LUMP SUM PAYMENT
Again, unless you have a “no-frills” mortgage, you should be able to make bulk payments to your mortgage. Depending on your lender and your mortgage product, you should be able to put down anywhere from 10-25% of the original mortgage balance. Some lenders are particular about when you can make these payments, however if you haven’t taken advantage of a lump sum payment yet this year, you will be eligible.

REVIEW YOUR OPTIONS REGULARLY
As your mortgage payments are withdrawn from your account regularly, it’s easy to simply put your mortgage payments on auto-pilot, especially if you have opted for a 5 year fixed term. Regardless of the terms of your mortgage, it’s a good idea to give your mortgage an annual review. There may be opportunities to refinance and lower your interest rate, or maybe not, but the point of reviewing your mortgage annually, is that you are conscious about making decisions regarding your mortgage.

If you have any questions about your mortgage, how to get a mortgage, or how to get rid of the mortgage you have, please don’t hesitate to contact my anytime.

Courtesy of Michael Hallett, AMP – DLC Producers West Financial

Financing is key to successful real estate investing. You’ve aligned your financing with your real estate investment strategy, and are comfortable that you can execute your plan. As a result, you may have a conventional mortgage, and secondary debt as well. The term Capital Stack is used to describe the various levels or layers of financing that go into purchasing or improving a real estate project.

Why is this an important concept to understand? A successful real estate program on a specific development will result in all participants getting paid. Not all financing sources however, have the same priority. Understanding the Capital Stack insures that you understand the relative risk associated with each level of financing participation. And ultimately, whether the proposed real estate investment plan will yield the intended rate of return.

What you Need to Know

There are typically 4 levels of capital, however there is really no limit, in theory, to how many layers or classes of financing a capital stack may contain. 

The important concepts to keep in mind are that:

Risk increases as you move higher in the capital stack

Each source of capital has seniority over the capital source above it, in the capital stack

Each source of capital is subordinate to the capital source below it, in the capital stack

Since risk increases as you move higher in the capital stack, it follows that returns generally do as well, with the Junior, or Mezzanine lender typically earning a higher rate of return than the Senior debt holder.

What are the Implications?

The important concept here is that in the event of the sale or refinancing of the property, the capital stack participants at the bottom get compensated first, and once fully paid, and to the extent that there are excess funds, subsequent participants (i.e. up the capital stack) will be compensated as well.

If a real estate development plan is strategically implemented, and the business plan is properly executed, all participants will be paid. The relative position in the capital stack will however reflect risk, and the potential for compensation will be commensurate. If there are losses upon a property sale or refinancing, losses are incurred from the top down.

There is no right and wrong position in the capital stack. Savvy real estate investors may either participate as financiers, or receive the benefit of various levels of capital in their own projects. Understanding the concept of the Capital Stack allows for a better understanding of risk, and the ability to generate higher real estate investment returns.

Courtesy of Allan Jensen, AMP – DLC The Mortgage Source

’Tis the season… this was no surprise here! The latest round of mortgage guidelines has been announced by OSFI, or Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. As of January 1, 2018, all conventional or uninsured mortgages will have to qualify at the Bank of Canada 5-year fixed rate or the contractual rate + 2%, whatever is greater.
What does this mean? Nothing for anyone wanting to renew or buy real estate with less than 20% down.
But anyone wanting to access their equity might just have to consider a slightly lower amount. And those wanting to purchase real estate with 20%+ down may need to adjust their expectations or relocate their search area.
Regardless of your scenario, there will still be options to exercise.
Next question on many people’s minds is how this will affect prices. Based historical data, I predict that there will be very little decrease in prices. Most people thought the ‘bubble’ was going to explode. Most comments were, “It just has to, how can prices continue to increase?” Well guess what… prices have continued to increase. Some market segments will experience a slight softening, but nothing drastic.
Here is a list of changes issued by OSFI since 2006. Did any of them bring prices down?

2006
Maximum amortization 40 years
100% financing, 0% down payment

2008
Maximum amortization 35 years
Maximum 95% financing, minimum 5% down payment required

2011
Maximum amortization 30 years
Refinance maximum 85% of the market value

2012
Maximum amortization 25 years
Refinance maximum 80% of the market value
If mortgage insurance is required, then the maximum purchase price of the owner-occupied home is $1,000,000

2015
Minimum down payment – 5% of the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion remaining

2016
Qualification rate increases to Bank of Canada benchmark rate for all insurable files (less than 20% down)

2017
Conventional (20% down or greater) stress test increases to contract rate plus 200 basis points (2%) or the Bank of Canada benchmark rate, whatever is greater

2018
What will happen in 2018?

There is no need to slam your fist on the panic button. This is simply the new normal for mortgage finance consumers. The sun will still rise in the east and set in the west. The earth will continue to rotate in a counterclockwise direction. People will still buy and sell real estate. Those consumers with available equity will still have access to it and borrowers will still renew existing mortgages. If you are receiving or buying into “the world is ending” type information, please look away… it’s wrong and misleading.
Nothing changes.
If you are worried about things you cannot control, stop it! If you are going to put any energy into something, I would recommend building a bulletproof personal borrowing profile. More than ever it’s vitally important to have AAA credit, minimal-to-zero consumer debt and strong reliable income and savings. If you start with that, I can assure you everything will be OK!
If you have any plans to become an active mortgage consumer, start looking at your options now as some lenders will adopt the new rules before January 1, 2018.

Courtesy of Michael Hallett, AMP – DLC Producers West Financial

Bankruptcy is always the last resort-and it’s never easy or comfortable. However, sometimes it is the only option to turn to when life throws you something unexpected. The lasting impression it can have on one’s financial profile though can be overwhelming.

If you have bankruptcy in your past, don’t fear-we have 6 steps to take to help get you back on track and qualifying for your mortgage!

Step 1: Get official discharge quickly.
The quicker you are discharged from your bankruptcy, the quicker you can start rebuilding your credit. This starts with finding a good bankruptcy trustee. You can contact the BBB or Chamber of Commerce to find out recommendations, but we can also provide you with connections to complete your discharge in the shortest time possible.

Step 2: Review your most recent credit score.
You will need to pull from Equifax and TransUnion Canada. They are the two governing credit bureau organizations that manage credit reports in Canada. Look over both reports carefully and make sure there are no surprises and that your debts have been paid off completely. As a general guideline, getting a credit report yearly is a good rule of thumb. You’re managing your credit-if you see a mistake on the report it is up to you to follow the steps to get the mistake corrected.
If you find a mistake, you do have the right to dispute or explain ‘situations or mistakes’ to your bureau. Contact the credit reporting agency immediately and ask about their dispute resolution process. If you still do not agree with an item following the agency’s investigation, visit this link for TransUnion or this link for Equifax to find out how you can add an explanation statement to your report.

Step 3: Re-establish your credit
Mortgages are much easier to get with good credit. You will want to start to rebuild your credit as soon as you possibly can. To do this you will want to open up 2 tradelines (credit cards) through a secured institution such as Capital One, Home Trust, Peoples Trust, etc. They start with putting as little as $500 down with your credit being based on your deposit. Next, follow the 2-2-2 rule. This means you will want to keep those 2 lines of credit with a max limit of $2000 for 2 years. Keeping in mind that you must pay your bill on time each month (even if it is just the minimum payments).

Step 4: Pay any outstanding taxes to revenue Canada
This is probably one of the most important things to remember when you are getting a mortgage! If your taxes are unpaid then there is nothing we can do to help! You won’t qualify for any mortgage until any owing debts to Revenue Canada are paid off.

Step 5: Start Saving!
With all of the mortgage regulations in place now it is important to understand how much you will need to save to put down on a home. This will vary from person to person and situation to situation. Your personal history, credit score, etc. will have an effect on this as well. There are literally 100’s of ways that you can start saving money. Remember, every little bit helps!

Step 6: Put budgeted savings into an RRSP for the down payment
One of the easiest ways to make money on your savings, is to keep them in an RRSP fund. If you are a first-time home buyer in Canada you can borrow up to $25,000 from your RRSP’s to use towards the down payment on your new home. The beautiful thing about keeping it in an RRSP fund is the larger tax refund you will receive—for every $1,000-dollar contribution you will get $400 back! Now that’s smart saving!

In addition to these 6 steps, we recommend that you keep all bankruptcy documents on hand. Even though your bankruptcy has been discharged, the lender which you are applying for a mortgage with may ask you to provide a copy of the statement of discharge, along with copies of the bankruptcy papers. Keep them safe and on hand as this is a key piece of information to help you get a mortgage faster and easier.

Declaring bankruptcy is one of the life events that no one wants to face. But if that is part of your history, I can walk you through the mortgage process and go above and beyond to make sure that you acquire the mortgage you are looking for!

Courtesy of Geoff Lee, AMP – DLC GLM Mortgage Group

This story appeared in the Fall issue of Our House Magazine

How a B.C. woman transformed her home into a skin-care spa.

From an early age, Leah LaVanway struggled to get her acne under control. As a gymnast and horseback rider, her athletic pursuits made it difficult to keep her skin healthy and clean. It was those personal struggles that also led her into the medical skin-care industry.
“It was always my mission to learn more about skin and try to figure out why my skin was breaking out,” she tells Our House magazine.
LaVanway graduated as a Certified Medical Esthetician and sought to start her own business in B.C.’s Lower Mainland. But life got in the way, at least for a few years. Just as she was getting her spa business up and running, her boyfriend, William, a trainer of racehorses, was injured in a car accident and couldn’t work for a couple of years. She put her business on hold to help with the equestrian work that her boyfriend—now her husband—couldn’t do.
But once he got back to work, LaVanway wanted to get back to helping people.
She set up her spa business in a few retail locations around the Lower Mainland, but none seemed to be the right fit. The storefronts didn’t offer the privacy that she felt her clients wanted. They were also telling her if she ever set up at home, they’d come to her there.
She did just that, moving her spa into her home. Since 2012, LaVanway, 32, has been operating Essence of L Medi Spa & Laser Clinic out of her White Rock, B.C., home, and hasn’t looked back. “People love it. They come in and they feel comfortable. Especially since a lot of my treatments are for acne… a key reason to keep it here was the privacy,” she said.
LaVanway also noted some pretty big advantages to having a home-based business, including offering a flexibility in her schedule.
But the spa isn’t some little office space. She’s transformed nearly her entire home to give it a true spa feel. Walking through the front door, you wouldn’t know it was a residence too.
A grand entrance leads into the studio space on the house’s main floor. The studio is completely separate from the living space. And since there are no children in the home, there are no toys or other items strewn about.
Over the years LaVanway has changed the entire front entrance, adding parking, a waiting area and an outdoor fire table. The first piece of advice she would give anyone looking to start a home business is to make sure it’s as separate from the living area as possible. If you have clients coming to the house, she recommends spending a little extra money. “Just so when they come in [to your home], you’re proud to show your home and to welcome them,” she says.
There isn’t a better time to start a home-based business, LaVanway believes, and the statistics back her up. According to the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), there are 1.1 million small businesses in the country. Another 2.7 million people are self-employed.
“In my opinion, this is one of the best times to have a business at home because it’s so flexible, interest rates are great, and our lives are getting busier… It can change and build how you planned to have your dream life to supplement your income by having something else at home. It’s definitely the time to do it,” LaVanway says.
Before committing to starting a business in your home, check with your municipality regarding rules and bylaws governing such businesses. While very few cities and towns ban home businesses outright any more, they may not permit signage or customer visits, for example. Condominium and townhouse dwellers will need to confirm what their building’s regulations will allow too.

Financing a Home with a Business
Starting a home-based business like Leah LaVanway’s can be an appealing way to make a living, but there are a few things you need to consider if you’re about to take out a mortgage on the property.
Nancy Ingram, a DLC mortgage specialist in Guelph, Ont., notes that lenders will be looking at the sustainability of the business and whether the borrower can repay the mortgage. Lenders will also be looking at the history of the business for things like regular deposits. If it’s brand new, lenders will be considering whether the business venture is viable.
“They would really look at the whole scenario to make sure they’re protecting themselves and their investors’ money to ensure they [borrower] can pay it back,” Ingram says.

Courtesy of Jeremy Deutsch, Lead Writer, Dominion Lending Centres

Often, the route to owning your own home can seem like a trip to the moon and back.

Really though, it comes down to five key steps:

1 – Manage your credit wisely.
If there is one thing that will gum up the purchase of that perfect home, it’s an unwise purchase or extra credit obtained. Keep your credit spending to a minimum at all times, make every payment on time and most of all pay more than the minimum payment. Remember that if you just make the minimum payment on your credit cards, chances are you will still be making payments 100 years from now.

2- Assemble a down payment.
At first glance, the challenge of finding a down payment can seem insurmountable. In fact, you just need to consider all the sources for down payment funds. yes, you will have saved some but remember you can also, in some situations, use RRSP funds, grants ( BC Home Equity Partnership for example ) and non traditional sources like insurance settlements, severance and of course, gifted funds from a family member. Don’t forget that you’ll need to demonstrate that you’ve had the funds on deposit for up to 90 days and also that you have an additional one and a half percent of the mortgage amount for closing costs.

3- Figure out how much you can afford.
It’s at this point that most people usually stop and scratch their heads. Some even try and tough it out, using the raft of online calculators to figure it out, but new mortgage rules can make even that a challenge.
If you talk to a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage specialist ( like me! ) though, they can help you figure it out and even go as far as getting you a “pre-approval” from a financial institution. This can give you the confidence you need to actually start looking around.

4- Figure out what you want.
You’ll want to make a list of things your new home has to have and what the neighbourhood has to have. Things you want to think about are the things that are important to you now; is there access to a dog park? Is there ensuite laundry? Divide the list into things you can’t live without and things you’d like to have. It’s way easier to look when you know what you want to look at.

5- Look with your head, buy with your heart.
The final step is, with the help of a realtor, look at properties that meet your requirements. Yes, the market is a little frenzied at the moment, but remember, if your perfect property is sold to someone else, the next perfect property will soon appear.

When you do finally buy, chances are, you’ll buy with your heart. My sister Noona moved to London some years back and after settling in, decided to buy. Her list was fairly lengthy, one of the key elements was being able to walk to work. In a market similar to what we face now, she found a property that met most of her requirements. In the end though, she bought with heart, mostly because of the view from the balcony.

The decision which home to buy is a tricky thing, it should be made with your head and heart. Deciding, while balancing what you think and feel, really is rocket science.

I know that this may seem to be an oversimplification but really, the thing that complicates the process is your own emotions – all of the stress that comes along with making a life change can make the process challenging.

Courtesy of Jonathan Barlow, DLC A Better Way

Approximately 32 per cent of Canadians are in a variable rate mortgage, which with rates effectively declining steadily for the better part of the last ten years has worked well.

Recent increases triggers questions and concerns, and these questions and concerns are best expressed verbally with a direct call to your independent mortgage expert – not directly with the lender. There are nuances you may not think to consider before you lock in, and that almost certainly will not be primary topics for your lender.

Over the last several years there have been headlines warning us of impending doom with both house price implosion, and interest rate explosion, very little of which has come to fruition other than in a very few localized spots and for short periods of time thus far.

Before accepting what a lender may offer as a lock in rate, especially if you are considering freeing up cash for such things as renovations, travel or putting towards your children’s education, it is best to have your mortgage agent review all your options.

And even if you simply wanted to lock in the existing balance, again the conversation is crucial to have with the right person, as one of the key topics should be prepayment penalties.

In many fixed rate mortgage, the penalty can be quite substantial even when you aren’t very far into your mortgage term. People often assume the penalty for breaking a mortgage amounts to three months’ interest payments, which in the case of 90% of variable rate mortgages is correct. However, in a fixed rate mortgage, the penalty is the greater of three months’ interest or the interest rate differential (IRD).

The ‘IRD’ calculation is a byzantine formula. One designed by people working specifically in the best interests of shareholders, not the best interests of the client (you). The difference in penalties from a variable to a fixed rate product can be as much as a 900 per cent increase.

The massive penalties are designed for banks to recuperate any losses incurred by clients (you) breaking and renegotiating the mortgage at a lower rate. And so locking into a fixed rate product without careful planning can mean significant downside.

Keep in mind that penalties vary from lender to lender and there are different penalties for different types of mortgages. In addition, things like opting for a “cash back” mortgage can influence penalties even more to the negative, with a claw-back of that cash received way back when.

Another consideration is that certain lenders, and thus certain clients, have ‘fixed payment’ variable rate mortgages. Which means that the payment may at this point be artificially low, and locking into a fixed rate may trigger a more significant increase in the payment than expected.

There is no generally ‘correct’ answer to the question of locking in, the type of variable rate mortgage you hold and the potential changes coming up in your life are all important considerations. There is only a ‘specific-to-you’ answer, and even then – it is a decision made with the best information at hand at the time that it is made. Having a detailed conversation with the right people is crucial.

It should also be said that a poll of 33 economists just before the recent Bank of Canada rate increase had 27 advising against another increase. This would suggest that things may have moved too fast too soon as it is, and we may see another period of zero movement. The last time the Bank of Canada pushed the rate to the current level it sat at this level for nearly five full years.

Life is variable, perhaps your mortgage should be too.

Courtesy of Tracy Valko, AMP – DLC Forest City Funding

It has been said that there are two certainties in life; death and taxes. Well, as it relates to your mortgage, the single certainty is that you will pay back what you borrowed, plus interest. However, how you make your mortgage payments, the payment frequency, is somewhat up to you! The following is a look at the different types of payment frequencies and how they will impact you and your bottom line.

Here are the six main payment frequency types:

1. Monthly payments – 12 payments per year
2. Semi-Monthly payments – 24 payments per year
3. Bi-weekly payments – 26 payments per year
4. Weekly payments – 52 payments per year
5. Accelerated bi-weekly payments – 26 payments per year
6. Accelerated weekly payments – 52 payments per year

Options one through four are designed to match your payment frequency with your employer. So if you get paid monthly, it makes sense to arrange your mortgage payments to come out a few days after payday. If you’re paid every second Friday, it might make sense to have your mortgage payments match your payday! These are lifestyle choices, and will of course pay down your mortgage as agreed in your mortgage contract, and will run the full length of your amortization.
However, options five and six have that word accelerated attached… and they do just that, they accelerate how fast you are able to pay down your mortgage. Here’s how that works.
With the accelerated bi-weekly payment frequency, you make 26 payments in the year, but instead of making the total annual payment divided by 26 payments, you divide the total annual payment by 24 payments (as if the payments were being set as semi-monthly) and you make 26 payments at the higher amount.

So let’s say your monthly payment is $2,000.
Bi-weekly payment : $2,000 x 12 / 26 = $923.07
Accelerated bi-weekly payment $2,000 x 12 / 24 = $1,000

You see, by making the accelerated bi-weekly payments, it’s like you’re actually making two extra payments each year. It’s these extra payments that add up and reduce your mortgage principal, which then saves you interest on the total life of your mortgage.
The payments for accelerated weekly work the same way, it’s just that you’d be making 52 payments a year instead of 26.
Essentially by choosing an accelerated option for your payment frequency, you are lowering the overall cost of borrowing, and making small extra payments as part of your regular cash flow.
Now, It’s hard to nail down exactly how much interest you would save over the course of a 25 year amortization, because your total mortgage is broken up into terms with different interest rates along the way. However, given today’s rates, an accelerated bi-weekly payment schedule could reduce your amortization by up to three and a half years.

Courtesy of Michael Hallett, AMP – DLC Producers West Financial

By now the media, along with multiple mortgage brokers’ social media feeds, have likely let you know that more changes to your ability to get a mortgage are arriving soon. But so what? Should you care?

SHORT VERSION; Probably Not.

LONG VERSION; The five ’W’’s follow to help answer the above questions and more;

Who is affected?

Nobody simply renewing an existing mortgage. No changes for you.
Nobody buying with less than a 20% down payment. No changes for you.

Group 1 – Current homeowners with more than 20% equity who want to access that equity.

Mind you we are still talking specifically about people wanting to borrow more than 80% of what they currently qualify for. This is less than 10% of my own clients.
And even then, often there will still be a way; co-signors, alternative lenders, etc.

Group 2 – Buyers with 20%+ down payment who specifically planned on borrowing more than 80% of what the currently qualify for.

What does this mean for the market? Is meltdown imminent?

Um. No.

Where?

These changes are unlikely to have a significant impact on the Vancouver or Toronto markets due primarily to higher than average household incomes and higher than average net worth of our parents if they live locally.

In small town Canada where average household incomes and average net worth numbers are lower, the impact of these changes could in fact be much more pronounced. Rather than a slight dip in specific price brackets and specific property types as might be seen in the GVA (Greater Vancouver Area), one might expect as much as a 10% drop in values in smaller communities.

When?

Jan 1, 2018***

Who picks these dates?

People who believe that mortgage brokers, lenders, and underwriters don’t deserve and sort of holiday break at all.

The changes themselves are poorly thought out as it is. But the date of implementation appears to have been generated by the coldest, loneliest, most robotic person in government today.

Why not Dec 15? Or why not Feb 1?

Seriously? Jan 1?

***If you believe these changes may affect you take action well before Dec 1, 2017.
Lenders will be implementing the new rules early, they always do.

Why did the Government make more changes?

Because they can.

For one reason only. OSFI aka the ‘Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions’ has a singular mandate.

It’s not to calm prices, it’s not to protect consumers from themselves.

OSFI’s mandate is purely ‘to protect the stability of the CDN banking system’

Period.
The end.

It is not about you, me, consumer debt, bidding wars, subject free offers, runaway property prices, etc. No, it’s all about protecting the banks.

Conclusion

We are at a point where for ten years running the government has made significant changes to the mortgage lending market every single year.

What’s happened to prices pretty much every year for ten years running?

What’s happened to market activity pretty much every year for ten years running?

At this point it feels a bit like we have an impatient child smashing their toy against the ground because it’s not working to their liking.

It was/is actually working fine, but after the tenth hit maybe it may well start to falter, perhaps government should have paused after the ninth hit and seen if things were falling into place (they are), but no – here we go again.

I’d like to say hopefully they are not winding up for yet another hit. However, sadly, all indications from inside the machine indicate that they are in fact winding up for yet another hit. More on that one if and when it happens.

If you are a buyer in the 500K – 1M$ zone watch for some opportunities as that may be where things soften slightly.

Otherwise, business as usual.

Courtesy of Dustan Woodhouse, AMP – DLC Canadian Mortgage Experts