National Housing Day Happenings
Today the Liberal Government announced a new national housing strategy. This has been spurred by recently released data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. found that 1.7 million households were in “core housing need” in 2016, meaning they spent more than one-third of their before-tax income on housing that may be substandard or doesn’t meet their needs.
The National Housing Strategy – just debuted – has turned out to be a is a complex and ambitious initiative, representing an investment of over $40 billion in housing and homelessness.
Here are the National Housing Strategy’s key points:
• A plan to embed the Right to Housing in legislation.
• A commitment to build 100,000 units of new affordable housing.
• A commitment to repair 300,000 units of social housing.
• A commitment to protect 385,000 households living in social housing facing loss of subsidy.
• An 11 year, $2.3 billion renewal of the Homelessness Partnering Strategy.
• A $4 billion Canada Housing Benefit program to support up to 300,000 Canadians facing housing affordability challenges.
• A commitment to a distinct Indigenous housing strategy with additional funding.
As a first generation Canadian, I personally believe housing is a right, not a privilege. Tinkering with our market for greater social harmony is, for me, a suitable goal. How effective it will be remains to be seen. Here’s some critical thought on the subject in Maclean Magazine’s The National Housing Strategy Promises Big Spending, But Is It Money Well Spent?
If you’re keen to see how engaged the Federal Government is, check out their website called Let’s Talk Housing?
Interestingly, the level of engagement on housing matters continues to escalate. Today, in the downtown neighbourhood of Parkdale, A Major Toronto Intersection Was Blocked For An Affordable Housing Protest.
News For Active Buyers
At Urbaneer, when it comes to mortgage matters, we turn to our mortgage guru, Jake Abramowicz (aka MortgageJake), who has these additional insights for active Buyers!
The Toronto-Dominion Bank announced yesterday they will honour pre-approvals for buyers without applying the new federal government Mortgage Stress Test requirements BEFORE January 1st (or whatever deadline they set) as long as:
• the properties close within 120 days
• there is no “material change” to the purchase agreement
A material change can mean: higher/lower down payment, or adding/subtracting a new buyer. This is the only lender so far willing to pre-approve at old rules for 120 days max closing dates after pre-approval. If you’re a Buyer who is stressed by the stress-test, you should contact Jake, he’ll pursue getting you pre-approved with TD (although first, he’ll make sure whether you should or shouldn’t be stressed-out, anyways).
Need to know what the new Mortgage Stress Test rules are? Here’s our must-read post What You Need To Know About Canada’s New Mortgage Rule Changes.
Also a new credit union enters the fold. Desjardins Credit Union just announced a THREE YEAR pre-construction rate hold that is fully underwritten at the time of submission (that is today). These interest rates are far better than the big banks. However the BUILDER you’re purchasing from may not approve Desjardins as a true “big bank” for their own qualification purposes. If that’s the case, Jake has two additional banks at his disposal: RBC and CIBC fo pre-approvals.
A note on pre-construction pre-approvals. All of these lenders and banks (Desjardins and RBC/CIBC) do these as FULL approvals. That means -as a Buyer – you need to be fully prepared to provide all the required documentation including supporting income, mortgage and tax statements, down payments, and appraisal. This is because it’s not a 90-second pre-approval letter, but a fully-vetted application that offers your a rate lock and security for the time frame.
If you’re buying pre-construction, ensure you read our essential post on the risks On Buying A Toronto Condominium Pre-Construction.
Are you searching for Toronto Real Estate? These past Urbaneer blogs are great supplementary reading:
The Wackadoodle Toronto Real Estate Market
7 Reasons Why Toronto Real Estate Prices Have Skyrocketed Over The Past Decade
How To Search For Your Next Property Purchase
How Homeowners Can Adapt To Rising Interest Rates
If you’re active searching for property in the Toronto real estate market, we encourage you to explore your financing options.
Have questions? Please know we’re here to help!
~ Steven and the Urbaneer Team
Steven Fudge, Sales Representative
Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage • (416) 322-8000
http://www.urbaneer.com • info@urbaneer.com
– earn your trust, then your business –
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Love Canadian Housing? Check out Steve’s Student Mentorship site called Houseporn.ca which focuses on architecture, landscape, design, product and real estate in Canada!
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