Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, today announced that new mortgage restrictions would be implemented aimed at preventing housing speculators and ensuring that house buyers can handle their debt when interest rates inevitably rise.

Rob Carrick of the Globe and Mail explains further:

Olympics aside, the current favourite Canadian diversion is debating whether there is a bubble in the housing market. Those worried about the market plunging have urged Mr. Flaherty to raise the minimum down payment for a home and reduce the maximum payback period.

But the 35-year amortization, favourite of first-time buyers across this land, remains. So does the 5-per-cent down payment, which is heavily relied upon in high-cost cities like Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.

All the measures announced by Mr. Flaherty affect mortgages covered by government-backed mortgage insurance, where the buyer puts less than 20 per cent down. The key change for typical home buyers is that, regardless of what term or type of mortgage they choose, they’ll have to be able to afford the five-year rate.

This is a sensible way of building some slack into the system as we look ahead to a cycle of rising interest rates. If someone chooses a variable-rate mortgage, where the interest rate can be as low as 2 to 2.25 per cent today, they’ll have to be able to handle the payment at the current five-year rate. Right now, the posted rate at the big banks is 5.39 per cent.

You won’t have to actually make the higher payments required by the five-year mortgage. You’ll just have to theoretically be able to carry them and still remain within the limitations lenders set out on how much of your gross income can be consumed by debt (it’s 42 to 44 per cent, just so you know).

Another reason why the changes won’t be jarring is that a huge number of homebuyers are actually choosing five-year mortgages these days. A study issued by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals last month showed that fixed-rate mortgages accounted for 86 per cent of mortgages in set up in 2009 and, of those, 70 per cent were for a five-year term.

People who borrow to buy investment properties to either flip for a quick profit or to generate income are also affected by Today’s announcement. If you buy a property you’re not going to live in, then you’ll have to put down a minimum 20 per cent to qualify for mortgage insurance. That’s up from 5 per cent.

But not all lenders even require clients to have mortgage insurance if they put 20 per cent down. Stiff mortgage insurance premiums already discourage people from putting 5 per cent down on an investment property.

The final mortgage change restricts the ability of existing homeowners to refinance their mortgages to take on more debt. The new ceiling is 90 per cent of the value of your home, compared to the current 95 per cent

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Written by Toby Barlow last year for the New York Times – an interesting observation of the state of the real estate market in Detroit and how people are snapping up derelict homes for $100. Remember though, that you get what you pay for, and before you charter a flight to Wayne County Airport, perhaps a little research into Detriot’s inner city neighbourhoods wouldn’t go amiss. For some though, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.