Pickering's new-build pipeline, and what the deposit structure actually commits you to
Pickering is reshaping around its city centre and the Seaton lands, which makes new construction a much larger share of local activity than in a mature market. A builder purchase commits you well before a lender ever sees the file, and the deposit schedule is the first thing worth understanding: builder deposits are typically staged over months, are paid out of pocket rather than financed, and are at risk in ways a resale deposit generally is not. The mortgage-relevant consequences follow from the same long runway. The appraisal happens at closing, not at signing, and a lender funds against the closing-day value — so a gap between the contract price and the appraised value is cash you provide. A rate hold expires on a fixed date while the builder's closing can move, which is how buyers end up re-qualifying at a rate they did not plan for, re-tested at the greater of the contract rate plus two points or 5.25%. And final-closing adjustments — development levies, utility connections, and other builder charges — land on the closing statement and are not always capped in the agreement. At Pickering's July 2026 average of $951,065 the purchase itself is comfortably insurable under the $1.5-million ceiling, with the tiered 5%/10% minimum applying and a 30-year insured amortization available to first-time buyers and new-build purchasers. Our pre-construction mortgage page walks the full sequence.