The Bank of Canada announced that it would maintain its overnight rate of 1 percent this morning, thanks to disproportionate growth in the Canadian economy. According to the official release from the Bank, economic growth in Canada was slightly slower than expected in the first quarter of 2012. Even so, the underlying economic momentum appears largely consistent with projected expectations. As such, the latest release from the Bank appeared to ease up on the possibility of an imminent rate hike. However, the overall tone of the piece did little to dispel the fact that rates will increase eventually. Continue reading
Category Archives: Mortgage Types
Rates on the Way Up
Canada’s major banks have begun to increase rates, putting an end to near-historical lows across the country. News broke on Monday that several banks would be increasing their rates by 6/10ths of a percentage point, signifying a shift in the real estate market.
The largest increase was attached to the popular five-year fixed closed rate. The posted rates at Royal Bank, Laurentian Bank and TD Canada all went up from 5.25 percent to 5.85 percent. Of course, posted rates are routinely discounted. As such, RBC’s new discounted rate for the five-year term also increased 6/10ths of a percentage point to 4.59 percent. TD discount mortgage rates now sit at 4.55 percent, while the discounted rate at Laurentian is holding steady at 4.54 percent. Continue reading
How Do Consumers Feel About the Market?
Economists and mortgage experts are always quick to analyze the Canadian housing market. However, these industry leaders often forget to ask for consumer opinions and insights. Luckily, there’s the CMHC Annual Mortgage Consumer Survey to help fill this gap.
Conducting in February and March of 2012, the CMHC Mortgage Consumer Report surveyed 3,502 recent mortgage consumers in order to better understand how market conditions are impacting the average buyer. Findings from the report are extremely useful, not just for first time home buyers and competitive mortgage rate seekers, but also for mortgage brokers and lenders. Here’s a look at some of the top statistics. Continue reading
Taking a Closer Look at CMHC’s 2011 Annual Report
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation marked its 65th anniversary last week with the release of their 2011 annual report. As the nation’s top mortgage insurer (the organization backs $567 billion in default mortgage insurance), the CMHC controls roughly three-quarters of the nation’s mortgage default insurance. Despite inching ever closer to the $600 billion dollar government-imposed limit, the CMHC’s reported that there’s still plenty of room to meet the nation’s core demand for mortgage insurance. Continue reading
High Home Prices and Bidding Wars: What You Need to Know
The price of a new home in Canada is on the rise, according to data released by Statistics Canada today. Market information from March shows that the price of a new home in Canada rose by 0.3% from the previous month, marking the 12 consecutive monthly increase. While relatively minimal, the jump was slightly greater than the 0.2% advance predicted by market experts.
Numbers don’t lie – houses are expensive, competition is fierce and properties are selling fast. If you’re currently on the market for a new home, you best be prepared – a potential bidding war could be on the horizon. According to a nationwide survey conducted by the Bank of Montreal, one in four Canadians is willing to enter into a bidding war – a decision that could come back to haunt them a few years from now. Continue reading