The Mortgage Report – May 27 Shop Rates, Says Bank of Canada: “The price of a mortgage can vary a lot among lenders…You’ll most likely find a lower interest rate if you do your homework and are willing to negotiate.”—Bank of Canada The BoC Does Move Fixed Rates: It’s a misconception that the Bank of Canada only influences variable mortgage...
The Mortgage Report – May 26 Stress Test Exception: Here’s a tip for renewers. If: A) you want to switch to a new lender at renewal, and B) your mortgage closedbeforeOctober 16, 2016,and C) you haven’t refinanced since… …then some lenders let you qualify at their best 5-year fixed rates instead of at the government’s “stress test” rate (which is...
The Mortgage Report – May 25 Decade Discounts: With rates near perma-lows, according to some, people aren’t exactly lining up to lock in for 10 years. That’s especially true with penalties being so large on 10-year fixed terms, that is, until a mortgage passes its five-year anniversary—at which point the Interest Act limits penalties to three months’ interest. Nevertheless, effective...
The Mortgage Report – Weekend Edition More Sub-2% Rates: For default-insured borrowers, there’s now up to three mortgage terms in the magic 1% range, depending on your province. They include the one-year fixed, three-year fixed and variable. In coming weeks, more borrowers could strategically choose shorter fixed terms to: (a) wait for better variable-rate discounts in 2021, and/or (b) get...
The Mortgage Report – May 20 “1″-handle Rates Return: Fixed rates have once again dipped below the psychological 2% level, albeit only three-year fixed rates. It’s a threshold that, when broken, often creates incremental demand for mortgages. Normally that demand comes from refinances and purchases, but with home sales down 57% nationwide, purchases have largely dried up. Credit tightening, a...
The Mortgage Report – May 19 5% Down Payments at Risk? Canada’s housing agency says it must “avoid exposing young people” and “taxpayers” to “amplified losses that result from falling house prices.” CMHC CEO Evan Siddall said today, “Unless we act, a first-time homebuyer purchasing a $300,000 home with a 5% down payment stands to lose over $45,000 on their...
Mortgage Report – Weekend Edition Prices Tumble in April: The national average home price in Canada has plunged almost 10% in one month (April). That’s never happened before in CREA data going back to 1980. The next closest month-over-month drop was -7.6% in April 1989. The data was skewed partly by the GTA’s 11.8% nose-dive. Home Inventories Skyrocket: The total...
Mortgage Report – May 14 De-Stressing: Call out the marching band, BMO’s posted 5-year rate cut today should ease the government’s mortgage “stress test,” effective next week. As it stands, the minimum stress test rate will likely fall from today’s 5.04% to 4.99%. It’ll mark the first time since January 2018 (when OSFI’s stress test began) that this benchmark rate...
Mortgage Report – May 12 Not So Timely: The government’s 5-year bond yield, which heavily influences fixed mortgage rates, peaked in October 2018. Since then, it has collapsed 212 basis points. Meanwhile, big banks have lowered 5-year posted rates just a stingy 30 basis points. The banking regulator (OSFI) considers that a problem and proposed to de-link the mortgage stress...
Mortgage Report – May 11 Hitting Triples: Borrowers would love to see 5-year fixed rates under 2% and eventually they’ll get there. But for now, banks are “reducing mortgage rate discounts to conserve profitability,” as Deloitte put it in a recent report. Alas, we’ll have to make do with the historically low rates we already have. And for all you...
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