This week the Minister of Finance announced some changes explicitly designed to slow the Canadian housing market.
This week the Minister of Finance announced some changes explicitly designed to slow the Canadian housing market.
On Friday, October 20th, 2016 TD Economics issued a special report on the new mortgage rules and what they mean for our housing market.
On Friday, October 21st, 2016 The Globe and Mail posted an article on the Liberals’ new plan for a deductible for mortgage insurance premiums.
On Monday February 22, 2016 CBC News posted an article about the Liberal government forecasting greater than expected deficits for the next two years. Continue reading →
On Thursday, January 7th, 2016 CBC News posted an analysis detailing why they believe that the Toronto housing bubble is not about to burst anytime soon.
On Tuesday December 16, 2015 CBC News posted an article about the Federal Reserve’s hike in interest rates for the first time since 2006. Continue reading →
On Monday December 14, 2015 The New York Times posted an article about a counter argument to the Federal Reserve’s “imminent rise in rates”.
Fixed Rate Mortgages have increased from their lows of 2.49% to their current level at 2.79%. Variable Rate Mortgages were recently being offered at rates as low as 1.85% or Prime (2.70%) minus 0.85%. Now customers are lucky to find them at 2.2% or Prime (2.70%) minus 0.50%. We managed to signal to our clients that mortgage rates were on the rise in our September 30th, 2015 newsletter (which you can read here).
The reason for today’s newsletter is twofold. First, it is to inform you that you should not rush to lock in a variable or fixed rate in today’s market. Secondly, it is to provide some explanation as to why we have seen both variable and fixed rates increase.
It is important to understand that fixed rates and variable rates move for different reasons. Although Bond yields and Bankers’ Acceptances Rates are up over the summer and fall, this doesn’t fully explain why we’ve seen such an increase in variable and fixed rate mortgages. Continue reading →
On Wednesday November, 25, 2015 CBC News posted an article about some reasons why rates have moved higher from the record lows that everyone was able to enjoy in the summer.
The Canadian economy is slipping. In fact, we may see our first quarterly economic contraction since the second quarter of 2011. But before you stock up on canned beans, this isn’t all bad. It could mean that lower variable rates are on the horizon. It won’t happen immediately, but we doubt this is the lowest our variable rate mortgages will go (as long our Banks share the coming overnight rate discount with us.) Continue reading →