For the fourth time in as many years, the Federal Government has announced action to restrict mortgage credit. The new measures include:

•The maximum amortization on a prime mortgage will be reduced from 30 to 25 years.

•Mortgage insurance will not be provided for properties valued over $1 million.

•Refinancing has been lowered from a maximum of 85% loan-to-value to a maximum of 80% loan-to-value.

•The maximum gross debt service (GDS) and total debt service (TDS) will be limited to a maximum of 39% and 44% respectively. Currently, GDS does not apply to qualified borrowers with credit scores over 680.