It’s been a rollercoaster of a week, on June 4th CMHC announced major changes to their underwriting criteria.
CMHC’s Announcement

Last week CMHC announced a few big changes coming for mortgage approvals. “COVID-19 has exposed long-standing vulnerabilities in our financial markets, and we must act now to protect the economic futures of Canadians,” said Evan Siddall, CMHC’s President and CEO.

·      One of the changes we are about to see is a reduction to the maximum allowable debt to income ratios, meaning less of your income will be allowed to be attributed to monthly debt and housing costs. This of course translates into a reduced maximum qualifying amount.

·      The second big change is that minimum credit score requirements are increasing to 680. You will now need an excellent credit score in order to qualify for a mortgage.

·      The third big change coming from CMHC is, you will no longer be allowed to have a borrowed down payment.

As of Monday, Genworth and Canada Guaranty say they will not be following CMHC’s lead.
Here is an article announcing these changes from CMHC, click here to learn more.
Genworth and Canada Guaranty Will Not Be Following CMHC’s Lead

We were met with a bit of a relief on Monday when Genworth and Canada Guaranty formally announced they will not be following suit. We do not know what this means long term but don’t panic ? ? ? ? we are here for you!

Here is the article regarding Genworth and Canada Guaranty’s mortgage rules and how they will not be following CMHC’s mortgage rule changes.