John Heath - Mortgage Teacher

06/05/2020

Major news from CMHC yesterday. Effective July 1st, they are lowering debt servicing limits, increasing their minimum credit score and disallowing non traditional sources of down payment for insured mortgages. In plain language, this means:
-qualified borrowers will qualify for less
-at least one borrower will require at least a 680 credit score
-borrowed down payments will no longer be allowed

Canadians looking to borrow money for a home purchase a home are in for some extra challenges after the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation announced changes to its lending standards.

03/13/2020

: Unexpectedly, Bank of Canada LOWERS the overnight interest rate by another 50 basis points to ¾ percent effective Monday March 16th. �

This unscheduled rate decision is a proactive measure taken in light of the negative shocks to Canada’s economy arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent sharp drop in oil prices.
It is clear that the spread of the coronavirus is having serious consequences for Canadian families, and for Canada’s economy. In addition, lower prices for oil, even since our last scheduled rate decision on March 4, will weigh heavily on the economy, particularly in energy intensive regions.��The Bank of Canada is expected to meet again April 15th and they are expecting another drop of .25%.�

If you have ��any questions, feel free to reach out to Mortgage Teacher!

: Unexpectedly, Bank of Canada LOWERS the overnight interest rate by another 50 basis points to ¾ percent effective Monday March 16th.

This unscheduled rate decision is a proactive measure taken in light of the negative shocks to Canada’s economy arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent sharp drop in oil prices.
It is clear that the spread of the coronavirus is having serious consequences for Canadian families, and for Canada’s economy. In addition, lower prices for oil, even since our last scheduled rate decision on March 4, will weigh heavily on the economy, particularly in energy intensive regions.The Bank of Canada is expected to meet again April 15th and they are expecting another drop of .25%.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Mortgage Teacher!

03/04/2020

: Bank of Canada LOWERS the overnight interest rate by 50 basis points to 1.25%.

This means the Prime Rate of 3.95% should drop to 3.45%. Great news for variable rate mortgages!

While Canada’s economy has been operating close to potential with inflation on target, the COVID-19 virus is a material negative shock to the Canadian and global outlooks, and monetary and fiscal authorities are responding.

Before the outbreak, the global economy was showing signs of stabilizing, as the Bank had projected in its January Monetary Policy Report (MPR). However, COVID-19 represents a significant health threat to people in a growing number of countries. In consequence, business activity in some regions has fallen sharply and supply chains have been disrupted. This has pulled down commodity prices and the Canadian dollar has depreciated.

The next rate announcement will be on April 15th, 2020.

02/18/2020

BREAKING: Bank of Canada announced changes to the Mortgage Qualifying Rate (MQR) also known as the "Stress Test" today that may have an impact on your mortgage qualifying amounts. Currently on Insured deals the Stress Test rate was held at 5.19% .. as of April 6 2020 we will see a slight change to the weekly median 5-year fixed insured mortgage rate, plus a two percent (2%) buffer. FOR EXAMPLE: that could look similar to 2.99% + 2.00% = 4.99% ..
If you are wondering how this could affect your mortgage, contact a Mortgage Teacher today. http://bit.ly/2fwVE0N

12/04/2019

As expected, the Bank of Canada maintains the overnight interest rate at 1.75%. This will keep the current Prime rate steady at 3.95%.

The rate has been held at 1.75% since October 2018. The Bank of Canada has noted that there is early evidence that the economy is stabilizing and we should be expecting steady growth in the next couple of years.

If you have any questions about how this affects your personal financial situation, please don't hesitate to reach out. The next rate announcement will be on January 22nd, 2020.

11/18/2019

Had a fun and informative few days with the Mortgage Teacher gang and lender and industry partners at the Mortgage Professionals Canada national conference. So many great people and great information and knowledge shared.

10/30/2019

: Bank of Canada maintains the overnight interest rate at 1.75%. While the Bank of Canada has held the rate at 1.75% since October 2018, the Governing Council says the resilience of the Canadian economy will be "increasingly tested" due to global trade conflicts and overall uncertainty.

The next rate announcement will be on December 4th, 2019.

09/24/2019

Conservative party leader Andrew Scheer has announced that if his party is elected, they will review and make direct changes to some of the current National mortgage policies, most specifically lowering stress test requirements for first time buyers, allowing amortizations up to 30 years for first time buyers and alleviating stress tests on renewals. These would be very positive changes for struggling first time buyers trying to enter the housing market. More details here:

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is promising that, if he's elected, he'll review the so-called 'stress test' to help first-time homebuyers get approved for mortgages and allow people to take out longer mortgages for lower monthly payments.

09/04/2019

For those with a Variable rate product...

Bank of Canada continues to hold the overnight interest rate at 1.75%. While the Bank of Canada has held the rate at 1.75% since October 2018, analysts are expecting that possible rate cuts are expected in the final months of 2019. The next rate announcement will be on October 30th.

09/04/2019

Bank of Canada continues to hold the overnight interest rate at 1.75%. While the Bank of Canada has held the rate at 1.75% since October 2018, analysts are expecting that possible rate cuts are expected in the final months of 2019. The next rate announcement will be on October 30th.

08/29/2019

3 days until the official launch of CMHC's new first time home buyer incentive. Let us know if you have any questions or know someone that might benefit from this program.

Shared equity program offers 5% on an existing home and as much as 10% on a new home

07/19/2019

Finally! For the first time since 2016, the mortgage qualifying rate (or MQR) has been lowered (slightly). This rate is used to qualify all high ratio mortgages, all low ratio insured mortgages and is usually used to qualify stress tested conventional mortgages if higher than the standard contract rate + 2%. This will allow most to qualify for a slightly larger amount than they did previously. If you're wondering what this means for you, ,please reach out!
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-canadas-mortgage-stress-tests-just-got-a-little-easier/