Stronger Mortgage Underwriting
As you’ve seen in the news, in October, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) released new Residential Mortgage Underwriting Guidelines. The Guidelines are said to reinforce a strong and prudent regulatory regime for residential mortgage underwriting. The Guidelines can be found here http://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/Eng/fi-if/rg-ro/gdn-ort/gl-ld/Pages/b20_dft.aspx
Highlights of the Guidelines include now requiring a minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages to be 2% greater than the five-year benchmark rate. This would protect the public in the event of small interest rate increases. Financial institutions must now enhance their loan-to-value ratio limits so that they are dynamic and responsive to risk.
It is expected that these measures will decrease the amount of credit available which could potentially be another government tool being used to cool the housing market. If you would like to discuss how these measures might affect your real estate plans, please feel free to contact me.
Turning to the October numbers:
|
2 Bedroom |
1 Bedroom |
||||||
|
#Active |
/sq.ft. |
#Sold |
/sq.ft. |
#Active |
/sq.ft. |
#Sold |
/sq.ft. |
Woodwards |
2 |
$1,183 |
1 |
$1,198 |
2 |
$1,077 |
3 |
$1,076 |
Downtown |
221 |
$1,409 |
61 |
$1,122 |
134 |
$1,152 |
91 |
$1,079 |
Coal Harbour |
33 |
$1,989 |
11 |
$1,546 |
11 |
$1,697 |
6 |
$1,256 |
Regards,
Kim
E&OE
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