As of today, it’ll be a bit tougher for new and renewing mortgage borrowers to qualify for their home loan. A higher threshold for the “stress test” has come into effect, requiring borrowers to prove they can carry their mortgage costs at an interest rate of 5.25% or their contract rate plus 2%, whichever is higher. This is a slight increase from the previous threshold of 4.79%. The stricter criteria applies to both insured mortgage borrowers (those who make a down payment smaller than 20% on their home purchase) and uninsured borrowers, who put down 20% or more.

What Does the Stress Test Do?

Simply put, in order to pass the stress test, borrowers must have healthy-enough incomes and debt servicing ratios to indicate they could pay their mortgage payments at the higher interest rate, regardless of the rate they actually get from their lender. For context, current fixed and variable mortgage rates are as low as 1.7% – 2% for a five-year term, so the stress test will tack on at a minimum 3% or higher. This translates to borrowers qualifying for a smaller mortgage amount.

How Will the Stress Test Impact Home Buyers?

However, as borrowers have been stress tested since 2018, the impact of this latest change will be fairly minimal. According to analysis conducted by Zoocasa, a buyer looking to purchase the average-priced home in their city would face a dip in affordability of about 3.8%, with between $14,000 – $47,000 shaved off the amount they’d qualify for. To make up for this difference, the study determined borrowers would need to supplement their incomes between $2,000 – $9,000 in order to qualify for the same size mortgage under the new stress test, depending on the city they’re purchasing in.

To determine these differences, Zoocasa calculated the income required to qualify for a mortgage large enough to purchase the average-priced home in 11 cities across Canada at both a mortgage rate of 4.79%, and then at 5.25%. It was assumed home buyers had no additional debt, were making a 20% down payment, and were amortizing their mortgage over 30 years.

Borrowers would see the largest dollar amount slashed from their qualification in Greater Vancouver, where the average home price was $1,211,223 in April; they’d receive $47,170 less on their mortgage, and would need to supplement their income by $9,000 to qualify for the same sized mortgage post stress test.

Next was Greater Toronto, where qualification would be reduced by $42,475 on the average home price of $1,090,992, resulting in a requirement of $8,000 in additional income.

The buyers least impacted by the stress test were found in Saskatoon and Winnipeg, where average home prices are $347,616 and $353,377, respectively. Qualification amounts in each would be reduced by $13,661 and $13,875, requiring an income increase of $2,000 to qualify for the same size mortgage.

Check out the infographic below to see how the stress test impacts average home buyers across Canada :

How The New Stress Test will Impact Home Buyer Affordability Across Canada? by Penelope Graham | zoocasa