Saskatoon Real Estate News October 2, 2012

New Mortgage Regulations Impacting Saskatoon

I work with some great mortgage brokers in Saskatoon and one of them just sent me and his core group of Saskatoon real estate agents a note yesterday to give us a heads up. The federal government is imposing some pretty big changes in the lending world when it comes to mortgages in Canada that will definitely impact many of us.

Due to the continuing regulation changes being imposed on all banks in Canada by the federal government they are enforcing some further due diligence guidelines for lenders. The changes are still being clarified however some of the ones that are already being implemented are:

*Realtor (r) prepared MLS listings are now a required document with all purchase documents

*New standardized metrics are established for calculating heat, condo fees and property taxes. If is is a resale house the lender may need to provide a tax notice from the City or a bank statement showing tax payment and condo fee payment

The second one presents a bit of an issue I would say as sellers may be hesitant to provide information like that so, as REALTORS(r) in Saskatoon, we will need to educate our sellers about these upcoming changes and ensure they cooperate. If someone wants to sell their house you would think they will cooperate but sometimes we need to explain why.

Another area where changes are going to be occurring is with regards to mortgage levels on higher end purchases. There is no clear communication as of yet but it sounds like there may be a tiering impact on high value purchases which will impact some of the high end houses for sale in Saskatoon (ie: over $750,000). Stay tuned for further clarification when I have it.

I have also recently heard that there has been an increase in mortgage fraud so lenders may be asking for more information from potential home buyers in Saskatoon, so don’t be surprised or angry if your mortgage broker in Saskatoon requires more information from you than previously.

These changes will impact all banks so it is important to be working with a bank or a mortgage broker in Saskatoon who is up to speed on the changes as some institutions are not as up to date as others. To any of my Saskatoon real estate clients who have been pre-qualified you may want to go back to your lender or ask me who I recommend as a lender to get the application reloaded and ensure the new guidelines still work for you.

These changes will impact the mortgage brokers as it is a very common practise for them to manipulate the numbers around “non-verified expenses” to determine the debt service. Now that they are mandated to profice the paper verification these numbers will not be as pliable. In the end though it will help solidify Canadian lending practices and drive more clients to reputable banks and brokers.

Kari Calder
Saskatoon Real Estate Agent
Century 21 Fusion
kari@saskatoonrealestate.net