It feels like it’s starting. Like the coronavirus impact is starting to have a negative effect on mortgage pricing. If you need a mortgage in the next 90-120 days and are leaning towards a variable rate, it may be prudent to apply soon. The concern: we’re now starting to see some lenders cut back on their variable-rate discounts from prime...
Five quick bulletins from the mortgage market: 1. Canada’s 5-year swap, which guides fixed mortgage rates, is on track for one of its biggest down days in history. Driving this carnage is the biggest oil rout since the 1991 Gulf War. JP Morgan says, “The oil and gas sector represents about 6% of [Canada’s] GDP but we expect the hit...
Here’s the latest on mortgage rates following the maniacal once-or-twice-a-decade-type week we just had in the markets… Where Mortgage Rates Landed A quick look at this week’s major rate drops from the Big 6 banks: Prime Rate Banks slashed their prime rates on Thursday from 3.95% to 3.45%—the most since the credit crisis.That story. 5-Year Fixed Rates Typical big-bank unpublished...
If you ever wondered what bond yields would do if we were facing a potential nuclear holocaust, we’re getting a small taste of it today. We are seeing Canada’s 5-year yield, normally a key driver of fixed mortgage rates, crash for the second week in a row. This plunge in yields is eerily reminiscent of the vicious 2008 credit crisis,...
If you want to know what investors think of Canada’s economic prospects, this chart almost says it all: This sort of meltdown signals raw fear. Such moves are not usually reflective of just a little economic blip ahead, but a king-sized economic crisis. No hyperbole intended. What does it mean for rates? It means rate expectations are falling by the...
A lot of folks out there were skeptical that the big banks would show borrowers love and pass along the full Bank of Canada rate cut.Us included. But banks showed they still have a heart and did us right. RBC led the charge by slashing its prime rate 50 basis points to 3.45%. The rest of the bank herd then...
Amid a global growth scare, the BoC has slashed Canada’s most-watched rate for the first time in almost five years. “…The COVID-19 virus is a material negative shock to the Canadian and global outlooks,” the Bank said in its statement today. Despite how concerned the bank is about fuelling more debt, it chopped its overnight target by 50 bps to...
The rate market just witnessed a rarity. The U.S. Federal Reserve has suddenly slashed its key interest rate by 50 bps. The last such “emergency rate cut” happened in 2008 during one of the worst recessions of all time. This pretty much cements a Bank of Canada rate cut by tomorrow. “With markets now pricing in a full 25 bps...
The spring mortgage market just got another boost. HSBC has unveiled a brand new 1.99% 3-year fixed that is now the lowest mortgage rate in Canada. It’s for default-insured (“high-ratio”) mortgages only, but it’s spectacular nonetheless. The last time the bank had a rate this low was July 2017 on a 5-year variable. “We are responsive to the market, which...
More than 4 out of 5 borrowers stay with their bank when their mortgage renews. And of all the reasons to do so, the least valid is probably this:because they want to keep all their finances at one institution—for “convenience.” Some people like that their mortgage payment comes out of their bank account automatically each month — that they can...
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