“The increase will raise the bar to homeownership quite materially in Vancouver and Toronto,” housing experts at RBC Economics say. “Especially for first-time buyers.”

Announced in December by Finance Minister Bill Morneau, the minimum amount a buyer will have to put down on a home worth half a million dollars or more will increase from 5 per cent of the price to a blended, higher rate: 5 per cent down on the first $500,000, and 10 per cent down on any dollar value above that amount.

Let’s use the example of a $700,000 home. Under the (soon to be old) 5-per-cent rule, a buyer would need $35,000 down to qualify for an insured mortgage loan.

On Feb. 15, the new minimum on that same home will jump to $45,000 or an additional $10,000.