Toronto Homeowners Making Private Mortgage

Toronto’s a city filled with man buns, food trucks, Indy music, and whatever else is the trend of the day. Unfortunately, its latest trend is one brought on by sky-high interest rates and increasingly difficult borrowing standards—homeowners are turning to private lenders in Ontario’s capital to get a private mortgage.

Private lending shot up 67% from the first quarter 2016 to the second quarter of this year, making up 20% of the total refinancing and mortgage deals, according to the Toronto brokerage, Realosophy and a property data provider called Teranet.

The word on Toronto nowadays seems to always focus on impossible mortgages, brutal interest rates, outlandish home prices, and mortgage qualifications that are best described as unobtainable. Borrowers must display the ability to make payments at increased rates while applying to new mortgages on top of refinancing or transferring to a new bank.

Naturally, private lenders are reaping the benefits, as homeowners have nowhere else to go. The standards of private lenders are lower, and they’ll take on more questionable applicants with trickier arrangements than standard financial institutions. Of course, this means higher interest. Between 2016 and 2018, private lenders went from only 12% of mortgage loans to 20% in the second quarter of 2018.

The president of Realosophy, John Pasalsis explained via e-mail that the majority of the private lenders are actually mortgage brokers lining up mortgage investment corporations to raise money for lending.

Approximately 50% of private lending during the second quarter of 2018 involved refinanced detached homes, followed by condo refinancing. During this time, private mortgage volume shot up to $1.5 billion, an increase of $580 million compared to the first quarter of 2016.

Gen Xers comprise the majority of private borrowers, making up 42% of transactions.

This may be because Gen Xers enjoy renovations to existing homes as opposed to moving into larger abodes, and private loan companies are more lenient when it comes to financing construction.