The new mortgage rules are certain to result in a slowdown in the Quebec housing market, the body representing the province’s real estate boards says.

The Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB) has significantly downgraded its market outlook for 2017 and says the short-to-medium-term impact of Ottawa’s rules are definite.

“The impact on the number of sales will be, at a minimum, as great as the 2012 tightening of the mortgage rules which reduced the maximum amortization period from 30 to 25 years,” explained Paul Cardinal, Manager of the QFREB’s Market Analysis Department.

The Federation also believes there is a real risk to home prices in the province which would likely result in a negative impact on consumer confidence.

The mortgage stress test will particularly hit first-time buyers, the Federation says, while the risk-sharing rule will mean higher mortgage rates.