This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Dedicating a larger portion of their income toward mortgage payments could reduce savings or lead Canadians to pulling back on spending in other areas of the economy, OSFI noted. For would-be homeowners, the combination means searching for more affordable housing options, boosting down payments, or delaying their purchase.
The regulator also defended the mortgage stress test, arguing that ensuring buyers could still afford the higher of contract rate plus 2 per cent and 5.25 per cent provided a margin of safety in preventing some borrowers from over-stretching themselves financially.Article content “Mortgage borrowers are increasingly leveraged and rising interest rates only increase the debt service burden on these borrowers,” Gloyn and Gul wrote in an Oct. 18 note. “Combined with eroding homeowners’ equity as house prices correct, this environment could lead to higher-than-expected losses at OSFI-regulated lenders.”
“We could see the impact of ‘payment shocks’ on renewing borrowers’ flow-through credit performance, assuming borrowers face difficulty servicing a higher mortgage payment,” the note read. “For borrowers that received their mortgage in Q3 2021, we estimate a $1,000 increase in monthly mortgage payments. These higher mortgage payments, alongside other inflationary pressures , could stress borrowers’ ability to pay.
Don’t worry, the bail out will come…