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MonthDecember 2010

Posted Uncategorized

Bank of Canada doesn’t raise the rate

Today was the last of eight regularly scheduled meetings by the Bank of Canada (BOC).  The BOC didn’t raise their Target rate.. no surprise here.   With uncertain economic data in the U.S., Ireland and even a little shaky news in Canada, there was no chance of a rate hike.

It’s widely believed that Governor Mark Carney will not raise the rate until March 2011 at the earliest, or maybe even May 2011… possibly later…  read more here.

One thing is for certain, the longer things remain uncertain, the longer we will be enjoying these record low rates… Variable rate mortgages can be had at 2.25% and a 5 year fixed is around 3.69%.   Borrow wisely…

Posted Mortgage News

CIBC Economist gives us the stats

CIBC Senior Economist, Ben Tal, spoke at this year’s annual Mortgage Broker conference in Montreal.  The conference, organized by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals, is a great place for Mortgage Brokers to meet all the Lenders and service providers under one roof.

It’s also a great opportunity to hear some of Canada’s experts talk about the economy, real estate, interest rates and the mortgage market.  Here are a few highlights from Mr. Tal’s presentation.

-there are 12.5million households in Canada…31% rent, 69% own..

-of the 69% that own, 39.9% have a mortgage and 28.9% have no mortgage.

-69% of homeowners with a mortgage have more than 20% equity in their homes… only 30% have less than 20% equity in their homes.

-Renters have excellent cashflow… 96% of renters are using less than 40% of their income to pay for all their debts… so in reality, these renters could qualify for a mortgage based on their debt servicing ratios.. (most lenders allow borrowers to use up to 42% of their gross income towards a mortgage payment)…

One more comment that caught our attention was about Variable rate mortgages vs. Fixed rate… The historical data is overwhelmingly in favour of Variable rates….it’s really been a no-brainer… But what about now?  Fixed rates are at historical lows…  Mr. Tal said that Fixed rates might outperform Variable rate over the next 5 years… BUT it is so close that a 0.50% increase in Fixed rates would probably tip the scales back in favour of Variable…

That being said, we must also consider the flexibility of a Variable Rate product.. it does allow one to lock into a fixed rate at any time and it does allow for an early exit at a minimal cost….   For me, Variable rate is still better choice…for most of us.