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<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto:\u00a0Erik Eastman<\/a>\/Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Unregulated lenders are doling out more short-term loans tied to property investments, and that might amplify a Canadian home price downturn, one economist warns.<\/p>\n Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist with Capital Economics notes that non-regulated lenders, known as mortgage investment corporations (or MICs for short), accounted for 2 percent of the mortgages borrowers took out last year in the country.<\/p>\n\n Yet just 1 percent of total mortgages owing come from this unregulated sector, suggesting non-regulated lenders were busier last year.<\/p>\n Loans from these lenders come with high interest rates \u2014 in certain instances upwards of 15 percent, plus fees \u2014 and are generally offered for short time periods, sometimes as little as six months.<\/p>\n It\u2019s earned them the title of \u201clenders of last resort,\u201d notes Brown.<\/p>\n Because of these high costs and short timeframes, it doesn\u2019t make much sense for new homebuyers to take advantage of these loans to purchase a property.<\/p>\n