Canadian important mortgage changes and dates for new guidelines

A few weeks ago, theCanadian federal government announced changes in mortgage lending guidelines. These changes are mandatory for CMHC insured mortgages; however, individual banks and mortgage lenders have not announced their policies regarding conventional mortgages. We are waiting to hear whether a 35 year amortization is available on conventional mortgages & whether lenders are changing their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELoC) parameters. Also, although we often refer to insured mortgages as a CMHC mortgage, there are 2 other mortgage insurers available to lenders - neither Genworth Financial nor Canada Guaranty have issued statements regarding policy changes.

Important dates for new guidelines:

· March 18^th 2011: for 35 year amortization: an approval must be in place for a mortgage on a specific property by March 18^th - the property closing date can be after March 18^th (some lenders are stating within 120 days of March 18th 2011);

· March 18^th 2011: for property refinance: up to 90% of appraised value of property - funding day can be after March 18^th - unfortunately last date to fund hasn't been clarified - usually refinances must be finalized/funded within 60 days of approval. After March 18^th, the maximum refinance available will be 85% of property value.

· April 18^th 2011: rules for insured HELoC change - CMHC will no longer insure HELoC.

To find out today's best rates, I will be happy to refer you to a mortgage specialist.