Breaking Down the Mortgage Insurance Increase

Both CMHC and Genworth announced identical mortgage insurance premium hikes yesterday, which is causing a bit of panic, but in reality this change equates to a small amount of money for homeowners and borrowers. The premium increase will bring the rate from 3.6 per cent to 4 per cent, coming into effect March 17, 2017. “We do not expect the higher premiums to have a significant impact on the ability of Canadians to buy a home,” said Steven Mennill, Senior Vice-President, Insurance. “Overall, the changes will preserve competition in the mortgage loan insurance industry and contribute to financial stability.” [CMHC] For the average mortgage-insured homebuyer, this…