In Vancouver, the higher insured-mortgage cap helped first-time buyers finance homes up to $1.5M, opening options for purchases that previously required much larger downpayments.
Near that threshold, some buyers could put down as little as 5% instead of 20%, though insurance premiums could still add tens of thousands.
Vancouver brokers also credited expanded 30-yr amortizations for first-time buyers with improving affordability, beyond earlier limits that applied only to newly built homes.
Another measure drew support in Vancouver: help covering municipal development fees, which an expert said can reach 30% of new construction costs.
Still, the bigger Vancouver challenge remains supply: families need more livable newly built 3-bedroom and 4-bedroom homes, because too few of those units exist.