TD Canada Trust rate cuts: Special fixed rates drop from: 3yr: 2.99% to 2.89% 5yr (high ratio): 2.99% to 2.79% Posted rates drop from: 1yr fixed: 3.59% to 3.44% 2yr fixed: 3.74% to 3.54% 5yr variable: 2.65% to 2.35% (P – 0.25%) Every time a bank cuts 1- and 2-year posted rates, it raises the chances of customers paying bigger...
Tough Sledding: The mortgage industry will remain under pressure “over the near-term as employment trends weaken, credit loss provisioning moves higher, and housing / mortgage activity pulls back materially,” TD says. If government subsidies disappear in 2021, the bank projects 50% higher mortgage defaults industry-wide, peaking in first quarter 2021. But the overall arrears level will stay below the historical...
Today’s Rate Menu: After a three-week hiatus, variable mortgage rates are back down to prime – 0.50% (a 1.95% effective rate, including cash back) in some provinces—but only if you need a default-insured mortgage. The lowest widely advertised uninsured rates remain HSBC’s 2-year fixed at 2.34% and the fully open Tangerine HELOC at 2.35%. Sales Should Surge Post-Reopening: Home purchases...
RBC Cuts Again: The nation’s biggest mortgage lender dropped six “Special Rates” today: 1yr: 3.14% to 3.04% 2yr: 2.79% to 2.69% 3yr: 2.99% to 2.89% 4yr: 3.04% to 2.94% 5yr: 3.24% to 3.09% Variable: Prime + 0.25% to Prime +0.00% Quick take: Despite the fact that prime + 0% is nothing to write home about, any improvement in variable-rate pricing...
Oil Bloodbath: Crude posted its largest price decline in history today, down 300% in the May futures contract. How is it possible to fall more than 100%? Oil futures traded below $0 a barrel for the first time in history. People weren’t even willing to take a barrel of oil (for May delivery) for free. The June contract was down...
Record Broken: Canada’s 5-year bond yield moves fixed mortgage rates and it closed at another all-time low today. That coincides with a roughly three-week low in risk/liquidity premiums. Together, these two factors are driving fixed mortgage rates lower, with numerous lenders trimming rates 5-15 bps this week. More Hope: “With a vaccine more than likely out of reach for this...
After slashing rates three times in March and buying billions in bond market instruments to further suppress interest rates, the Bank of Canada pressed <Pause> today. Here’s what happened and how mortgagors should respond. Rate Announcement:No change Overnight rate:0.25% Prime Rate:2.45% (seePrime Rate) Market Rate Forecast:No change until at least 2022 BoC’s Headline Quote:“The Bank’s Governing Council stands ready to...
Falling Back to Earth: Fixed mortgage rates are at multi-week lows. In the last week, multiple big lenders have cut 5 to 15+ bps. The key reasons: rates are descending in the fixed-income market (where lenders fund most of their fixed-rate mortgages), and credit spreads are narrowing (meaning lenders are paying smaller risk and liquidity premiums to investors to obtain...
Rate Conversions: Now Over-rated: Today’s best variable rates give borrowers a half-point head start versus a 5-year fixed. If one assumes the latest widely-held rate forecasts are correct (see below), prime – 0.35% or better variables still have a projected edge based on interest cost alone. And many are still willing to make that bet despite rate discounts being 50+...
Stock Losses Cut in Half: In another hint that the worst may be over in the COVID crisis, one of the most-watched stock indices in the world—the S&P 500—has retraced 50% of it’s massive COVID-related decline. Although, with far uglier economic data ahead many are calling this a shorting opportunity. We won’t pretend to know if they’re right but here’s...
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