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Millions of Canadians expected mortgage rates to peak this year. The historic ferocity of rate hikes, an over-leveraged consumer and a 530 bps drop in inflation made that a credible bet.

But there's a reason economic models and long-term rate forecasting don't work so well. They’re unable to price in the unexpected...such as:

After a 15-year marathon in the prime mortgage space, Home Trust is tossing in the towel.

The company—best known for being a non-prime mortgage leader—is canning its Accelerator prime mortgage lineup, effective November 15. It made the announcement to brokers on Tuesday.

According to an insider, the move was driven mainly by one thing.

Ontario's largest credit union (Canada's 2nd biggest) has pulled most of its products from the broker market.

That includes popular offerings, like:

• Contract rate qualification mortgages (which aren't stress tested the same as bank mortgages, allowing customers to qualify for bigger loans)
• Uninsured HELOCs (including Meridian's 70% #LTV# revolving HELOC, which is 5%-points more LTV than banks allow on revolving credit lines)
• Non-income qualifying mortgages.

But why did Meridian pluck these crowd-pleaser products from the broker market—while leaving them in its retail channel?

Whereas most reverse mortgage customers have wrinkles and grey hair, here's a company that will lend you money with no payments required, even if you're not old enough to drink in some countries.

The lender in question is Fraction, an innovator in the equity release space (a.k.a. reverse mortgage market).

In fact, it was so much of an innovator it had to shut down its unique lending model last year due to falling home values and "capital markets" issues. It soft launched again in July, and now it's game on, says Co-founder Hayden James.

Banks across the land have been notifying customers of changes to their #readvanceable# mortgages.

Some of these notices appear written to create mass confusion. We've talked to a sampling of customers who got these letters and swore they were reading an alien dialect. Many are utterly bewildered by what's happening—and why. (All of which makes a good touch point opportunity for mortgage advisors.)

The puzzlement stems from a policy change OSFI announced 15 months ago. Its new rules limit how customers with readvanceable mortgages can reborrow paid-down principal when the total borrowing is over 65% loan-to-value.

"OSFI expects that any and all lending above the 65% LTV limit, which cannot exceed 80% LTV, will be both amortizing and non-readvanceable," the regulator says.