The federal government on September 24, 2024 announced expanded parameters for lenders and insurers to begin offering insured mortgages effective December 15, 2024. The expanded parameters include:
- Expanding the eligibility for 30-year amortizations.
- Increasing the $1 million cap to $1.5 million.
To qualify for the 30-year amortization:
- the loan to value must be 80% or more; and
- the borrower must be a first-time homebuyer or purchaser of a new build.
To be considered a first-time homebuyer, a borrower must meet one of the following criteria:
- The borrower has never purchased a home before.
- In the last four years, the borrower has not occupied a home as a principal place of residence that either they themselves or their current spouse or common-law partner owned.
- The borrower recently experienced the breakdown of a marriage or common-law partnership.
- To be considered a newly constructed home, the new home must not have been previously occupied for residential purposes.
To qualify for the increased $.1.5 million cap price:
- the loan to value must be 80% or more;
- the value of the eligible residential property against which the loan is secured must be less than $1.5 million; and
- the downpayment must be:
- 5 per cent on the portion of a purchase price up to $500,000, and
- 10 per cent on the portion of a purchase price between $500,000 and $1.5 million.