Market Update March 2020

Lock-Down

Now, this is an interesting time in the world. Not just with real estate, but with the entire world. It seems real estate has come to a standstill, so to speak. While deals are still closing, and people are still moving, it seems the rest of us are just waiting out this Covid-19 lockdown order. The ultimate question is how will this affect the real estate market? Follow me to stay up-to-date on the real estate market.

Qualifying Rate Change

My fabulous mortgage broker Massimo DeLuca called to tell me that effective April 6th, the Canadian stress test that all mortgage approvals must go through, is lowering its benchmark rate. The current qualifying rate is 5.19% and we haven't been told yet how much it will be reduced to so stay tuned because once I know I'll be posting it on social media.

So what does this lower qualifying stress-test benchmark mean to you?

It means you will be able to qualify for a higher mortgage, which may be particularly helpful for a first-time homebuyer in our current market.