New mortgage insurance rules introduced by the federal government last fall to cool the housing market have led to a sharp drop in insurance volumes for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. as fewer home buyers qualify for mortgage insurance.
CMHC said total insured volumes fell 41 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, including a 23-per-cent drop in homeowner insurance volumes and an 87-per-cent decline in the volume of portfolio insurance, which is bulk insurance purchased by financial institutions for their portfolios of uninsured mortgages.
The numbers unveiled on Tuesday offer a window into the impact of the government’s new rules, suggesting they have led to a significant decline in the number of people qualifying for insured mortgages under the
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