Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals

Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals: The policy changes that made it tougher for first-time buyers to get into the market have contributed to a 13.5 per cent drop in resale home transactions since they came into effect last July, notes Will Dunning, chief economist for the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals, according to The Star. Dunning warns that housing starts which have already slipped considerably since last July could fall to about 150,000 by the second half of 2014, a 25 to 30 per cent drop from last years 205,000 which could wipe out 80,000 jobs in construction and related industries alone and The housing downturn created by Ottawas tougher mortgage lending rules could cost the country 150,000 jobs over the next two years, 35,000 of them in the GTA alone, says a new report. Condo apartment sales were down a shocking 46 per cent in the nine months after the changes in part because developers have pulled back launching new projects in the face of continued uncertainty in the market and new home sales took a 43 per cent hit, notes Dunning in his Toronto Employment and Housing Outlook report for the second quarter of 2013. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.