New Canadian Mortgage Stress Test

New rules aimed at making it harder to get a mortgage take effect today, a move that is bound to have an impact on demand for homes in Canada.  Earlier this month, Ottawa announced the moves, which boil down to a stress test for all mortgage applications WHERE buyer putting down less than 20 per cent.

It consists of testing to determine if a borrower could afford to pay back a loan if interest rates go higher, so they judge the borrower against the five-year posted rate rate of 5% for a five-year loan — even though many lenders are currently offering mortgages at far less than that. (currently below 3%)  The Responses are;

• ·         45% would Buy less house
• ·         45% said Buy in different community/ city
• ·         39% would delay their purchase
• ·         5% would do something else
• ·         7% didn't know what to do

The new mortgage rules are to reduce debt loads, which will likely to cool prices, too. By making it harder to get a mortgage, demand for housing becomes limited as buyers are sidelined, which will cause prices to drop further.

I think the new rules will have a big impact on certain segments of the market, especially first-time buyers with small down payments. Second and third time sellers will not have qualified buyers to buy their houses delaying their move. It will be a significant adjustment: were looking at 20 to 30 per cent reduction in the mortgage value that people take on.

If you are selling to retire and exit it doesn't really matter.

If you are buying; its a better time with lower price than competing for homes

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