Mortgage Blues

It looks like the new mortgage rules have increased rejection rates from large banks by almost 20%.
I've also noticed that the Credit Unions seem to have gone on a frenzied advertising boom. Maybe hoping to catch some good quality prospects as they trickle down the lending ladder.  I'm not sure how pushing people to 2nd tier lenders with higher rates is protecting them.

"Private lender Fisgard Asset Management Corporation in Victoria is seeing an influx of borrowers and "better quality business" said Hali Noble, its senior vice president of residential mortgage investments and broker relations.

"A lot of these people should be bankable," said Noble. "But they're not."

The guidelines, known as B20, are aimed at curbing risky lending amid rising household indebtedness and high home prices in some markets.

In order to get a loan from a federally regulated lender, home buyers have to prove that they can service their uninsured mortgage at a qualifying rate of the greater of the contractual mortgage rate plus two percentage point or the five-year benchmark rate published by the Bank of Canada. An existing stress test already requires those with insured mortgages to qualify at the Bank of Canada benchmark five-year mortgage rule." Read more

2050 - Bonnie Doon and LRT

Although it may be an inconvenience that last 2 years the LRT is bringing new hope to what I would call a mall struggling on life support. Once Sears left it's been more and more depressing going into that mall.

The owners have hopes for new development integrating  medium and high density residential, enhanced transit and retail opportunities.

“It would be great to see some significant residential added on the retail. That really is the perfect transit-oriented development location in the area. There’s lots of land … away from single-family housing. It wouldn’t have a negative effect.” Coun. Ben Henderson

Read more HERE

Peter Kinch 2018 New Mortgage rules

Happy New Year! We're in a deep freeze in Alberta and nothing better to do than get up on all the mortgage rules.  You can also try the MPEMBA effect with the kids when you're done.

Peter Kinch on CTV explaining the new stress test on mortgages in 2018. HERE