—The Mortgage Report: Sept. 18— Variable Discounts Improve Further Bankers are making more dinero on floating-rate loans. That’s motivating them to cough up some profit and sharpen their variable rate pencils. Online brokers are now effectively as low as prime – 0.93% on default-insured variables in some provinces. Uninsured customers (including those refinancing) get milked for more, as usual, but...
—The Mortgage Report: Sept. 10— CIBC has dropped the following special fixed rates: 5yr (high-ratio): 2.07% to 1.97% 5yr (uninsured): 2.24% to 2.14% 7yr: 2.71% to 2.61% It’s the first time ever that a Big 6 Canadian bank has widely and openly advertised a 5-year fixed rate under 2%, albeit it’s only on default-insured mortgages. This development is more symbolic...
Grandfathering Remains in Effect Okay, you really shouldn’t be as happy as these people if you have to do an end-around to pass the stress test, but nonetheless… If you’re switching lenders to get a better deal, the best 5-year mortgage rates are usually available only on insured or insurable mortgages. And that’s a problem if your property value has...
—The Mortgage Report: Aug. 25— Yes. The Question is: When? Most readers know that fixed mortgage rates follow bond yields. But it’s bond yields south of the border that are particularly influential for Canadian mortgage rates — given U.S. influence on our economy. To get to 1.49% on discounted 5-year fixed rates, we need a Canadian 5-year bond yield near...
—The Mortgage Report: Aug. 19— Properly’s “Backup Offer” for Home Sellers Someday, the majority of Canadian home sellers will get a quote from an iBuyer. What’s an iBuyer? It’s a company that offers you roughly 7% less than fair market value to buy your home…fast. Why would someone take 7% less? Because some people place a high value on speed,...
—The Mortgage Report: Aug. 16— HSBC Cuts HSBC slashed a bunch of key rates going into the weekend, setting record lows on a variety of terms. That included reductions to these special fixed rates: 3yr: 2.19% to 1.99% Canada’s lowest-ever 3yr refi rate 5yr: 2.09% to 1.96% Canada’s lowest-ever 5yr refi rate 5yr (high ratio): 1.89% to 1.76% Canada’s lowest-ever...
A Two-Month High for the 5-year Yield Canada’s #1 fixed mortgage rate indicator, the 5-year bond yield, has stubbornly refused to challenge its March record low. And now it has turned upwards, closing Thursday at the highest level in two months: 0.44%. Concerns over inflation and massive government debt issuance are two key reasons. A close above 0.55% could indicate...
Effective this week, it gets a little easier to buy a house or refinance. On Saturday, BMO and CIBC shaved 15 basis points off their posted 5-year fixed rates. That’s enough to drop the benchmark 5-year posted rate to 4.79%. Given regulators use this benchmark rate to calculate Canada’s minimum mortgage stress test, today’s cuts mean you’ll now need less...
—The Mortgage Report: Aug. 4— Historic 5-year Yield: On Tuesday the U.S. 5-year Treasury traded just 19 basis points above zero—where it’s never been before. If it drops a smidgen lower, that could be enough to drag Canada’s 5-year yield (and hence, 5-year fixed mortgage rates) to record lows as well. Stay tuned. Setting the Pace: Tangerine now has the...
—The Mortgage Report: July 28— A Paper-Thin Spread: The gap between fixed and variable rates is as narrow as it’s been in months. The most competitive mortgage providers now sell 5-year fixed rates for less than 7 basis points above the cheapest variable rates. That “fixed-variable spread” could soon become negative, as it was in early March. Fixed rates are...
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