CategoryMortgage Trends

Ask the mortgage expert: How to buy a home in 2026, between budgets, builders, and opportunities

Every year, homebuyers across Canada hold out for the silver bullet—a policy change that will suddenly make the path to homeownership clearer.

From tax reforms to supply-side stimulus, the landscape is changing. The question is: Are these changes enough to bridge the gap between supply and demand, and how can you leverage them to your advantage?

While there is rarely a single “fix” for a market as complex as ours, the most recent budget cycles and policy updates have introduced significant shifts that every homebuyer needs to understand. Continue Reading ….

I hope you will enjoy this article and if you have any questions or would like to discuss I am always available.

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis: 416-224-0114; steve@canadamortgagenews.

Posted November 4, 2025 Bank News

Ask the mortgage expert: how Canada’s self-employed can unlock homeownership

For too long, Canada’s self-employed have faced a maddening paradox. The very financial strategies that prove your business savvy—like maximizing deductions to lower your taxable income—often become the biggest roadblocks to securing a mortgage.

As a mortgage broker, I see this scenario play out every week. I meet brilliant entrepreneurs, skilled contractors, and creative freelancers who have thriving businesses and excellent cash flow. Yet, they get turned away by traditional lenders fixated on a single line on a tax return. The story is always the same: “My business is having its best year ever, but the bank says I don’t make enough money.”

If this sounds familiar, take heart. The landscape has changed. Lenders and mortgage insurers now recognize the unique financial reality of the self-employed. A new generation of intelligent mortgage products has arrived, designed to look beyond your declared income and see the true financial strength of your business. The T4 slip is no longer the only golden ticket to homeownership. Continue Reading…

I hope you will enjoy this article and if you have any questions or would like to discuss I am always available.

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis: 416-224-0114; steve@canadamortgagenews.

Posted October 6, 20254 Comments Mortgage News

The Condo Carnage Is Real.. but is it over?

Let’s call this what it is: a day of reckoning. The great Canadian condo delusion, a mass psychosis fueled by cheap money and a fear of missing out, is over. The speculative fever has broken, leaving a trail of financial devastation in its wake. For years, an entire generation was told that buying a condo—any condo, at any price—was the only path to prosperity. They were wrong. Dead wrong. And now, the carnage from that spectacular miscalculation is creating the single greatest buying opportunity we’ve seen in decades.

The numbers don’t just tell a story; they scream it from the rooftops. In the Greater Toronto Area, sales volumes haven’t just dipped; they’ve cratered, falling a gut-wrenching 60% from the peak. In the first quarter of this year, a paltry 1,800 new condo units were sold across the entire GTHA. Let that sink in. We haven’t seen a number that terrifyingly low since 1995. This isn’t a slowdown; it’s a full-blown market seizure, a cardiac arrest of consumer confidence.

Posted June 13, 2025 Interest rates

Ask the Expert: Can the new Liberal housing plan solve Canada’s housing crisis?

Recently, Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberal party unveiled Building Canada Strong, a new ambitious housing plan to accelerate residential construction with the goal of building 500,000 homes a year.

Their most notable policies include cutting development fees for new construction, having the government play the role of developer to build and manage affordable housing across Canada (the Build Canada Homes Plan), and to eliminate the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for first time homeowners purchasing homes under $1 million.

This plan comes at an uncertain time — Canadians are contending with high unemployment, stagnating real estate markets in our biggest cities, and an ongoing affordability crisis. Our mortgage expert weighs in on the new Liberal plan and where he thinks mortgage rates are heading in the near future.

What are your thoughts on the Building Canada Strong plan?

Do you think it goes far enough to solve the housing crisis? Anything you think they could do differently?

After a rollercoaster election and one of the biggest surprise turnarounds in history, we have a new minority government in Canada for the next four years led by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Love him or hate him, we should all wish the new leader all the best. His success will translate into our success.

Being Canadian means supporting your country and that means supporting and respecting your government. It’s okay to criticize when appropriate and necessary. We all do it. But in order … Continue Reading…

I hope you will enjoy this article and if you have any questions or would like to discuss I am always available.

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis: 416-224-0114; steve@canadamortgagenews.

Posted April 10, 20251 Comment Bank News

A Financial Crisis Or Is It?

2025 will go down in history as one of those years filled with volatility and turmoil. There’s a quote from a book I read that seems appropriate today. “People want certainty versus accuracy.” I hope to give you certainty by sharing my 36 year experience in financial services and having lived through 5 financial crises and living through a 6th crisis today.

I’m going to take a risk and speak very bluntly. This may anger or upset some of you. I apologize, I have to say some things. I have to point out the obvious.

FIRST THE BAD NEWS…

I’m a math guy. Work with numbers every day. The stats don’t lie. Our economy, GDP, cost of living, housing costs, have all gone into the toilet. You don’t need to look very far to believe this. Many of you have contacted me about job losses, or potential job losses. Those secure in their jobs call me because they have increased their debt levels and this can be for many reasons. The point is, many are having a hard time paying their debts.