The Globe and Mail has an article about the drop off in real estate sales across the nation.

It’s got some gems in it for predictions from bankers and real estate associations, but it’s also got the standard partial information about ‘government interference’.

As evidence mounted that rock-bottom interest rates were fuelling house prices and consumer debt loads, Mr. Flaherty has changed mortgage insurance rules four times, each time making it more difficult for consumers to take on housing-related debt.

While the three previous rounds crimped both housing activity and the demand for credit, economists and real estate industry experts say this latest round, which took effect July 9, looks as if it is having a bigger impact.

And off course what’s missing is any mention of the government previous moves to make it easier for consumers to take on housing-related debt: moving amortization from 25 to 30 to 35 years, dropping down payment requirements all the way to zero down and shoveling money into mortgage buybacks via the CMHC.

So anyways, it’s getting harder to buy than it was when you could get a zero down mortgage with a longer amortization schedule.  And what sort of horrors has this wrought?

A number of economists, real estate agents, and industry observers say that many prospective first-time buyers have found themselves unable to secure a mortgage, especially in Toronto and Vancouver, and are therefore remaining renters.

Paula Roberts, a mortgage broker based in Markham, Ont., said one of her clients, a young teacher, was preapproved under the old rules, but now that she has found a home she likes, is having trouble securing the mortgage. She will likely have to get someone to co-sign the loan, or come up with a larger down payment, Ms. Roberts said.

“It’s really hindering people,” she said. “Her rent is basically the same as her mortgage payments.” In Ms. Roberts’ opinion, “it’s always better to try to buy something instead of rent.”

Of course, it’s always better to try to buy ..Says the mortgage broker.  Business slowing down Paula?

But this article ends on a bit of a down note for those hoping for a ‘plateau’

David Madani, a bearish economist at Capital Economics, reiterated his forecast Monday that house prices will fall 25 per cent in the next year or two. “The first sign of trouble at the peak of the U.S. housing bubble was that home sales began to drop in 2005, well before house prices began to fall in 2006,” he wrote in a research note.

Read the full article at the Globe and Mail.