The British Columbia Real Estate Association says, tough mortgage qualification rules are a key reason for a province wide drop in housing demand last month, including Kamloops, compared with February 2017.

Chief Economist, Cameron Muir says, sales have plummeted since new federal mortgage rules took effect at the beginning of the year.

“The fact that we look at February sales compared to December, and that’s on a seasonally adjusted basis, they’re down about 26 per cent in British Columbia, and in Kamloops, they’re down about 23 percent. So some of that, of course, was the result of a stronger than usual December, but also some of that will be the result of some pull back and demand as a result of these tighter, new mortgage regulations.”

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions implemented new lending guidelines in January that require borrowers who don’t need mortgage insurance to show they would still be able to make payments if interest rates rise.