Think that a 5 percent down payment is enough to secure a great mortgage rate? Think again. Pulling together the minimum 5 percent down payment, while a good start, is just that – a start. If you’re a first time home buyer looking to move up the property ladder, don’t skimp on your down payment. If you’re having trouble pulling together the 5 percent minimum, you’re setting yourself up for a hard, long haul. Continue reading
Category Archives: Commercial Mortgages
Bank of Canada Maintains Overnight Rate
The Bank of Canada left its main interest rate untouched yesterday, maintaining a 1 percent overnight rate for the 13th consecutive review. While Governor Mark Carney painted a bright economic picture, rumblings of increased interest rates are becoming more and more prevalent.
Overall, the economic momentum in Canada is slightly firmer than the Bank expected back at the beginning of the year. The Bank has projected the Canadian economy to grow by 2.4 percent in both 2012 and 2013 before moderating to 2.2 percent in 2014. As such, the Bank anticipates that the economy will return to full capacity in the first half of 2013. Continue reading
What Will the Budget Bring?
According to a report in the Globe and Mail, next week’s highly anticipated federal budget should only contain “modest” spending reductions and little to no intervention in the housing market. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered these and other comments outside of a volunteer firefighter station in Ottawa last Thursday. During the announcement, Mr. Flaherty stated that he would like to see if the market could “correct itself,” rather than force new regulations into place.
Flaherty’s response comes after Canadian banks requested Ottawa to institue mortgage insurance regulations in order to avoid what many are foreseeing as a major housing crash. The nation’s largest banks have been calling for the government to either lower the maximum amortization period for insured mortgages or raise the required minimum down payment amount for best rate mortgages.
Draft Guidelines: Residential Mortgage Underwriting Practices and Procedures
More stringent mortgage qualifications are on the way. On Tuesday, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions in Canada released draft recommendations that would impact Canada’s banks and other federally regulated lenders.
The 18 page document contained a slew of information, the majority of which make complete sense. However, there’s still great cause for concern in the financial sphere. According to this document, the OSFI is proposing a swift implementation that could shake the system off its foundations. One reputable mortgage source described the OSFI’s recommendations as a “policy-initiated free-fall”.
While we encourage home hunters to review the entire document (available via this link), here’s what best rate mortgage hunters need to know. Continue reading
How to Avoid Mortgage Fraud
Real estate fraud is happening at an alarming rate in Canada, according to a recent report published in the Vancouver Sun. The report from consumer credit company Equifax uncovered roughly $400 million worth of mortgage fraud in Canada last year. And many experts believe that’s just the tip of the iceberg. These figures represent only frauds that Equifax was able to uncover within their client holding.
Data from the report revealed that nearly two-thirds of all fraud committed in Canada last year was real-estate related, thanks in part to more stringent lending practices. In fact, mortgage fraud increased by 150 percent in 2011. Continue reading