Property taxes are due in most municipalities on July 4th… Some cities have pushed out the due date into September because of COVID. One thing to not forget is to claim your Home Owners Grant if you live in your home as your principal residence.  If you do not claim the grant, you will receive a bill that the grant plus interest is outstanding.  You can claim the grant by going online to your cities website or by going to city hall.

If your mortgage lender collects taxes for you, they will pay the bill directly with the city and send you a summary in the first few weeks of August confirming how much they paid and if your new tax withdrawals will be adjusted at all.

NOTE ** Even if your lender pays the tax bill on your behalf, you still need to claim the grant.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us here in the office 604-552-6190!

You may have heard already that CMHC has made changes to their qualifying ratios for those with less than 20% down…  We have not heard whether or not Genworth or Canada Guaranty will follow suit and make the same changes.

What Are These Changes In Underwriting Policies

Effective July 1, the following changes will apply for new applications for homeowner transactional and portfolio mortgage insurance:

• The maximum gross debt service (GDS) ratio drops from 39 to 35
• The maximum total debt service (TDS) ratio drops from 44 to 42
• The minimum credit score rises from 600 to 680 for at least one borrower
• Non-traditional sources of down payment that increase indebtedness will no longer be treated as equity for insurance purposes

“Someone earning $60,000 with no other debt and 5% down could afford approximately 10.9% less home under CMHC’s new rules,” the site noted. “That’s like jacking up the minimum stress test rate from 4.94% (where it lies today) to 6.30%!”

CMHC’s economy forecast is definitely more on the pessimistic side.  They are predicting that home prices will likely fall by 9% – 18% over the next 12 months.  They also feel that it will take minimum 2 years to see home values back at a pre-pandemic levels.  These changes are being implemented to “protect the homebuyer and reduce risk”.

To read the full article from Dr. Sherry Cooper, DLC’s chief economist, click here!