On July 1st the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) new mortgage rules came into effect. These changes are meant to reduce the risk of taxpayers footing the bill for bad loans, as well as protecting homebuyers who would be likely to take on too much risk in an economic downturn.
These rules include:
With home ownership having undergone a volatile transition phase in terms of both volume and demographics, there are now emerging trends that explain what the new generation of homeowners are worried about when it comes to their property decisions.
As was expected by many market forecasters, the B20 Stress Test implemented as a part of Federal level mortgage policy has had negative repercussions throughout the housing market.
This is especially true here in British Columbia, with the BCREA observing that residential unit sales figures in March saw a decline of 23% from the same point last year. These figures, coupled with a decline of 5.4% in residential house prices in BC in the same period, painting a stark picture of the current housing market in the province.
