Toronto-Dominion Bank has lifted its posted rate for five-year fixed mortgages by 45 basis points to 5.59% as government bond yields touched their highest levels since 2011 last week.
Canada’s second-largest lender also increased its two-year, three-year, six-year, and seven-year mortgage rates, bank spokeswoman Julie Bellissimo said in an e-mailed statement.
“Adjusting our rates is not a decision we take lightly,” Bellissimo stated. “We look at a number of factors when determining rates including the competitive landscape, the cost of lending and managing risk.”
Despite the hike, rates “remain competitive and at historically low levels,” Bellissimo assured.
“It’s a big move, the biggest move in years,” RateSpy.com founder Rob McLister told Bloomberg. “There’s a lot of reasons why that could be — maybe they’re taking a position on rates going forward, which is not that typical; maybe they’re trying to get people to lock in and generate better spreads.”
The change came as the yield on five-year federal government bonds rose to 2.18%, the highest in almost seven years.
Toronto-Dominion’s posted rate now stands higher than those of Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, and Bank of Montreal, which each advertise posted rates of 5.14%. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has the lowest posted rate at 4.99%.