TagCMHC

Posted September 18, 2024 Bank News

New $1.5 million price cap, 30 year extended amortization.. Is it enough?

The Federal Government announced they would be extending the current amortization on insured mortgages (those buying with less than 20% down) to 30 years. ONLY if you are a First-time buyer or you are buying a newly built home. I applaud this move but I would have liked for these 2 limitations to have been excluded.

I would go further and say we should extend it to 35 or 40 years, maybe even 50 years!

Posted August 10, 20231 Comment Real Estate news

What Happened to Pride in Home Ownership?

I’ve always believed that owning a home is something to be proud of. Something to strive for. Most people used to agree with me – but more and more I hear home ownership getting a ton of hate. What happened?

Purchasing a home was always an ideal in this country that motivated people towards financial prosperity. Renting was always a short term solution until you could buy a home. Now it seems that many people actually prefer to rent and take pride in it. How did we get here?

Posted January 29, 2021 Finance

The Good News

I’m a bit of a hypocrite. Whenever I go for a haircut, the gym or even to visit my dentist there’s a tv and it’s usually tuned in to a news channel. For the record, I don’t watch the news. I’m the guy that asks them to change the channel. I’m not interested in constantly hearing about how terrible the world supposedly is.

My take… if you want to be depressed, watch the news. If you want to be aware and alert, choose where you get your information.

The State of Homebuying in Canada 2019 CMHC Mortgage Consumer Survey

Posted November 28, 20192 Comments Mortgage News

Significant decrease in first time home buyers in 2019

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation released The State of Homebuying in Canada report on November 15, 2019, with a few key findings, including this headline.

The annual State of Homebuying in Canada report noted that 56% of all purchasers were first time buyers in 2018. This dropped to 47% in 2019.

The tightening of mortgage rules which has been taking place over the last 4 years is certainly having an effect. The never ending rule changes were intended to slow home sales and prices. But like most government interventions, its had the opposite effect.

Posted April 5, 2019 Interest rates

Beware of Mortgage Insurance Double Charges!

We’ve all heard the saying ‘necessary evil’ – something that we need or must have but don’t necessary like. It’s kind of like taking cough syrup that doesn’t taste so good but you know you need it to feel better.

Default mortgage insurance is a necessary evil. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to buy a home with less than a 20% down payment with low interest rates.

But what if you bought a house, paid the CMHC, Genworth or Canada Guaranty insurance… and a few years later you bought a bigger home or refinanced your mortgage for some home renos or debt consolidation?

Do you have to pay mortgage insurance again? If so, how much will this cost?

Continue reading “Beware of Mortgage Insurance Double Charges!”