9 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,June 11,2020 insidehalton.com At Village Orthodontics in Oakville, we specialize in beautiful smiles using clear aligners and traditional braces. New Patients Welcome Schedule your complimentary consultation today! 647-496-1424 2-2983 Westoak Trails Blvd. Oakville villageortho.ca Book your Personalized Smile Consultation today A change allowing more home buyers to qualify for a larger mortgage started April 6. This move could back- fire. The change has to dofire. The change has to dof with the "stress test" imple- mented a few years ago to help cool the red-hot real es- tate market, primarily in To- ronto and Vancouver. This has been fairly controver- sial. The stress test made it harder for home buyers to qualify for a mortgage. Many had suggested those restrictions be eased. That included real estate agents, mortgage brokers and home builders. Those preferring a high- er qualifying threshold for home buyers using mort- gage financing were con- cerned about the potential risk to the Canadians and our economy. Others re- main strongly in the camp of those opposing the weaken- ing of the stress test. Let's look at this topic through the eyes of a pro- spective home purchaser. At first glance, they would be happy. Now, they can qualify for their dream home. House prices are in- fluenced by the fundamen-fluenced by the fundamen-f tals of economics. Supply and demand. The supply of houses remains the same. What has changed is the ease of mortgage financing. More people can pay more for a house because of easierfor a house because of easierf mortgage qualification stan- dards. That increases de- mand. It is good for you, the homebuyer, and good for ev- ery other homebuyer. In- creased demand pushes up house prices. The lucky sell- er has more people lined up that can now afford to pay top dollar. Is this enhanced financ- ing option a financial trap? Financial circumstances change. How could they af- fect you, the homeowner?fect you, the homeowner?f Negative situations could arise from one, or more, members of the household losing a job. What happens if there is a significant in- crease in interest rates when it is mortgage renewal time? Peter Watson, of Watson Investments, has an MBA and certifications in CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCSI. He offers a weekly financial planning column, Dollars and Sense, and can be con- tacted through www.wat- soninvestments.com. OPINION HOME OWNERSHIP DANGEROUSLY MORE ACCESSIBLE ALLOWING MORE HOMEOWNERS TO QUALIFY TO PURCHASE A HOME HAS MANY INHERENT RISKS, WRITES PETER WATSON PETER WATSON Column Oakville Public Library's annual Summer Reading Club will look a little differ- ent this year. Later this month, OPL will be launching a new on- line summer reading pro- gram that will help keep our community connected and reading all summer long. Last year, over 2,500 chil- dren in Oakville signed up for OPL's Summer Readingfor OPL's Summer Readingf Club. Studies have shown that library reading pro- grams help children main- tain the reading level that they achieved during the preceding school year. Given our current social distancing measures and the continued closure of schools in Ontario, this initiative is more important than ever. Later this month, OPL will be launching an online summer reading programs for kids, teens and adults us-for kids, teens and adults us-f ing Beanstack -- an easy-to- use online platform and mo- bile app that makes it simple to track your reading. Beanstack is widely used by other public library sys- tems including Milton Pub- lic Library, Barrie Public Li- brary and Calgary Public Li- brary. Using the Beanstack desktop or mobile app, par- ticipants can log their read- ing minutes and participate in activities throughout the summer for a chance to win great prizes. Children can read inde- pendently, read to someone else, or have someone read to them. Books, magazines, comics, newspapers and au- diobooks are all accepted forms of reading. forms of reading. f More information about OPL's Summer Reading Club, upcoming programs, and how to access Beanstack will be available through opl- .ca and Oakville Public Li- brary's social media chan- nels (Facebook, Twitter, In- stagram) in the coming weeks. Summer Reading Club programs will also be taking place virtually every Wednesday starting July 8.Wednesday starting July 8.W To get a head start onTo get a head start onT your summer reading, useyour summer reading, usey your Oakville Public Li-your Oakville Public Li-y brary card to access eBooks and audiobooks through the cloudLibrary app or attend our Afternoon for Kid Book Lovers on June 24 which will help kids discover their next great summer read. This column is supplied by the Oakville Public Li- brary. SUMMER READING CLUB BOOKS PASSAGE ONLINE A VIRTUAL PORTAL TO EXPLORE THE JOY OF READING IS NOW AVAILABLE, WRITES OAKVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY OAKVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY Column