New mortgage rules not expected to cool Windsor-Essex housing market anytime soon

Windsor, Ont. -

Some potential Windsor-Essex home buyers are worried about the new mortgage stress test that took effect Tuesday.

D.J. Cabanayan says buying a home just got even more challenging.

“It’s kinda frustrating because with the market, housing these days, it’s already tough as it is,” says Cabanayan. “Now with the new rates it going to be even harder to get approved for a mortgage.”

The new Canadian rules are intended to cool the hot real estate market and reduce the buying power for some home buyers.

“I do well, but single home, single income, it’s going to be much tougher out there,” says Cabanayan.

Under the minimum qualifying rate of 4.79 per cent, if you qualified for $500,000 dollars, under the new qualifying rate of 5.25 per cent, that amount is reduced to $479,000.

Windsor-Essex Advantage Mortgages broker Mike Brain says it could to make it harder for people to get a mortgage who have a higher debt-to-income ratio.

“So it’s really lowered their capacity to borrow and even refinance, it’s across the board,”says Brain. “Anybody doing anything with a mortgage is effected by this new stress test.”

Brain says it should help prevent home buyers from taking on too much mortgage debt.

“Right now it’s not a positive because it’s effecting how much you can buy, but in the long run it’ll save home owners,” he says.

The changes could help slowdown the hot housing market in Windsor-Essex, but Valente realtor Matt McShane says that could take two to three years.

“It’s going to have an impact, but right now we’re in such a shortfall of homes, we’re sitting in 500 homes for sale in all of Essex County,” says McShane. “This number is going to stay short for a long time until there’s some new development.”

He says first-time home buyers and single-income buyers are the people who are effected the most.

“If you’re a single individual, you can’t actually get into the market so those people will continue to be negatively impacted by these new rules.”

That’s not good news for Cabanayan, but he’s trying to stay positive.

“Hope, pray, keep searching and hopefully something falls in my lap,” says Cabanayan.