Nine signs you can’t afford your mortgage

The Globe and Mail- While plenty of individuals live from paycheque to paycheque, most consumers know they should be saving money and reducing debt. The recession has drummed that concept into everyone’s head as people have watched their neighbours and friends lose jobs and sometimes their home. Many people say that money worries keep them awake at night, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to imminent bankruptcy. How do you know when you are truly teetering on the edge of a financial disaster versus simply needing to do a little belt-tightening…?

Nine signs you can’t afford your mortgage – The Globe and Mail

Housing will be banks’ next sore spot

Vancouver Sun- Canada’s housing market was a key source of strength that shielded the banks from the financial crisis but a flurry of recent warnings about a market bubble is raising concerns the vast mortgage holdings on bank balance sheets is about to become a millstone.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Tuesday released a study arguing that the red-hot residential real estate market in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and other cities is “an accident waiting to happen.”

“Canada is experiencing, for the first time in the last 30 years, a synchronized housing bubble,” said the report by David Macdonald.

The warning comes after a report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development argued that bloated debt levels of Canadian households are a threat to the economy…

Housing will be banks’ next sore spot

Home sales continue to drop

Financial Post- Existing home sales continued their rapid decline last month with 70% of markets showing a drop in sales in June from May, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The Ottawa-based group, which has 100 boards across the country, said sales were off 8.2% from a month ago on a seasonally adjusted basis. Toronto and Calgary led the decline.

CREA said tighter mortgage rules and rising rates are slowing the market which declined 13.3% from first quarter which had close to record sales.

"As expected, these two national factors contributed to a widespread decline in activity, with transactions down in all but a dozen or so smaller markets," said CREA…

Home sales continue to drop

New rules cuff some mortgages to banks

The Gazette- A headlock would be the wrestling term to describe the hold Canadian banks will have on some consumers because of new, more strict mortgage rules.

We are already seeing the impact of the changes that came into effect on April 19, but were put in place well in advance by Canadian financial institutions. Consumers are increasingly selecting fixed-rate mortgages of five years or more because it’s easier to qualify for them.

On mortgages for terms of four years or less, including variable-rate mortgages, consumers must be able to pay based on the five-year fixed posted rate, which is now 6.1%. Go longer and you can use the rate on your contract, as low as 4.6%. No more than 32% of your gross income can cover principal and interest, property taxes and heat…

New rules cuff some mortgages to banks

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