What does the new mortgage rule mean for first-time buyers?
On October 17, 2016, most first-time buyers will have less borrowing power when it comes to being approved for a mortgage. Whenever less than 20% is put down on a home, the mortgage needs to be insured. The new rule states that every insured mortgage
What your property taxes pay for in the City of Toronto
Property taxes can be confusing. Fortunately, the City of Toronto has a Property Tax Calculator that actually shows how your money is being distributed to various services and infrastructure developments and maintenance.
What is Manhattanization?
Last week, city council approved 18 new buildings, only three of which are office towers. City of Toronto Chief Planner Jennifer Keesmaat commented on the amount of approvals, calling it “mind blowing” and “astronomical” (in a good way).Ever since
What can a middle-class home buyer afford across Canada?
According to the latest data from the Canadian Real Estate Association, the average residential home will now set prospective home buyers back $525,000, though affordability challenges are much more acute in the nation’s priciest markets.
Beat the Heat: What does the summer hold for GTA housing?
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has already seen a few days above 30 degrees and families are opening their pools, so we think it’s safe to say that summer weather is here to stay. For the month of June, we will be featuring summer themed blog posts on
What we learned from our most popular news stories of 2017
We dug into our analytics to see which news stories posted in 2017 received the most traffic (excluding posts about new home openings and new home developments). After reviewing the data, we learned a few obvious and not so obvious things about our
What would happen if the mortgage stress test was eliminated?
Sixteen months after the implementation of the federal government’s B-20 mortgage stress test regulations, TD Bank released an examination of its effects. Basically, the stress test did what it was supposed to do, but had some unintended consequences.
What will happen to Trump Tower in Toronto?
At the beginning of the year, we heard about the Trump International Hotel Tower at Bay and Adelaide in Toronto going up for auction, with bidding to start at $298 million. We speculated about some big time developers that may be interested, but no one
What would it be like if Toronto only had 25 council seats?
I was avoiding bringing it up, but alas, I could no longer resist. How municipal government operates is crucial when it comes to new home development, and since the whole situation is getting so messy, I’ve grown concerned.
Genworth Series:What is Mortgage Default Insurance
The amount of money you save for the down payment will determine whether you will require mortgage default insurance.
