So the mortgage rules just changed for the amount of a downpayment required and many people are in support of making it more difficult for first time home buyers to get into the market. Many claim that coming up with an extra $5,000 or $10,000 downpayment isn’t such a hardship.

Really!? I mean really!?

Does the government realize it’s the holidays and many people have turned their attention toward spending time with their families and friends? Let’s face it, many people are spending more money doing their holiday shopping.
So the government, in my opinion, has kicked first-time home buyers in the Toronto market in the gut over the holidays. Merry Christmas folks! You better reign in your holiday spending and forgo that winter vacation so that you can spend an additional $5,000, $10,000 or whatever the case maybe after Feb. 15th, 2016. The alternative is, stop buying presents for your friends & family and quick go buy a property before Feb. 15th, 2016. Those don’t sound like great options for first time buyers.

And to exacerbate the situation there aren’t that many properties on the market during this time of the year so not only must they buy now, but they don’t have the widest selection.

Then there are the people that were already putting 10% down that don’t feel this announcement affects them. Well it actually increases the competition in the marketplace, so they will be affected too.

It will be interesting to see what the next 2 months of the Toronto real estate market will look like before this deadline sets in. Check out my interview with Pat Foran from CTV News on this subject here