Three months ago, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told banks to step up and firm up their lending requirements. When that didn’t work, he took matters into his own hands, releasing a laundry list of mortgage rules last week. The roughly eight major rules released by the DoF and the OSFI last week will likely influence the Canadian real estate market … Read More
Taking a Closer Look at CMHC’s 2011 Annual Report
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation marked its 65th anniversary last week with the release of their 2011 annual report. As the nation’s top mortgage insurer (the organization backs $567 billion in default mortgage insurance), the CMHC controls roughly three-quarters of the nation’s mortgage default insurance. Despite inching ever closer to the $600 billion dollar government-imposed limit, the CMHC’s reported … Read More
Budget Overview: What It Means for CMHC
From pennies to old age pensions, yesterday’s budget was full of unexpected quirks. What wasn’t surprising to best rate mortgage brokers was the government’s discomfort with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Ottawa has voiced concern over the activities of the Crown corporation for months now, threatening to toughen its oversight of this important economic organization. Yesterday, the budget took … Read More
What Will the Budget Bring?
According to a report in the Globe and Mail, next week’s highly anticipated federal budget should only contain “modest” spending reductions and little to no intervention in the housing market. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered these and other comments outside of a volunteer firefighter station in Ottawa last Thursday. During the announcement, Mr. Flaherty stated that he would like to … Read More
CMHC Backing Fewer Loans: A Look at the Repercussions
Last week, The National Post reported on the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and their growing insurance load coverage. According to the story, the CMHC is edging closer to a $600-billion government-imposed limit on mortgage default insurance, backing nearly $541-billion in mortgages. If the demand grows for mortgage default insurance, the CMHC will need to request a limit extension … Read More