In Part Four, I propose three tweaks that I think our policy makers should make to these latest rounds of mortgage rule changes. Not that they asked mind you - I haven’t found any industry insiders who were consulted before these changes were announced, but here’s hoping they’re open to suggestions and that they read my posts!

In today’s post, Part Three, I’ll explain why I support the view that more changes were necessary and I’ll offer my take on the longer-term impacts that these specific changes will have on our borrowers, lenders, and housing markets. Then I’ll close by offering my opinion on whether our policy makers got these changes right.

If the first mortgage rule change raised the qualifying bar for mortgage insurance, the second wave of rule changes completely eliminates mortgage insurance for certain categories of borrowers. To be clear, these changes don’t mean that affected borrowers won’t still have access to mortgages, but they do mean that these borrowers will have fewer options than before and should expect to pay rates that are higher than the lowest available.