CategoryReal Estate Trends

Variable Rates Go Up, Fixed Rates Come Down

If you’re reading this, you probably know by now: the Bank of Canada has been raising their benchmark rate aggressively to battle inflation. And I mean aggressively. Their rate has gone up by 2.25% in 6 months which is absolutely – wait for it – unprecedented.

As a result, variable rates have shot up. Everyone expected fixed rates to follow suit – but interestingly enough, the opposite has happened. They’ve actually gone down. Yup, you read that right: while variable rates are going up, fixed rates are going down.

Posted June 9, 20221 Comment Bank News

Beware of “Friendly” Calls From Your Bank

For better or worse, Canadians have a lot of trust. In each other, in their government, in the places they eat, in the places they shop – and apparently in the places they bank. A 2020 survey found that seven out of 10 Canadians believe their banks have their best interest in mind when offering advice. Well, if you’re one of those seven out of 10 people, I hate to burst your bubble… but I have reason to believe otherwise.

Posted December 14, 2021 Mortgage News

Is It Better to Rent or Buy Your Home?

Spoiler alert: this isn’t one of those pro-renting articles that seem to be so in-vogue these days. You’ve probably seen the type. They purport that contrary to popular belief, if you look deeply into the long term economics of homeownership, you’ll find that it actually makes much more sense to rent. Some even tout the psychological benefits of foregoing homeownership (based on… not all that much).

Posted January 29, 2021 Finance

The Good News

I’m a bit of a hypocrite. Whenever I go for a haircut, the gym or even to visit my dentist there’s a tv and it’s usually tuned in to a news channel. For the record, I don’t watch the news. I’m the guy that asks them to change the channel. I’m not interested in constantly hearing about how terrible the world supposedly is.

My take… if you want to be depressed, watch the news. If you want to be aware and alert, choose where you get your information.

Posted November 10, 20201 Comment Finance

It’s Financial Literacy Month

We’re celebrating Financial Literacy Month!

Join Senior Economist, Ted Tsiakopoulos and Mortgage Broker, Steve Garganis Thursday, Nov 12, 2020, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time for a chat about budgets, savings, debt, and more.

Register Now: https://buff.ly/3lhmUl3

Hot Topics:

Interest Rates, Savings, Debt and Budgeting trends
Good debt vs bad debt: How debt affects the economy, housing prices and financial stability
Bankruptcy vs Consumer Proposal.
Bank of Canada interest rate policy now till 2023 – Risks??
Why the second line of defence (macroprudential policies) is necessary despite the recent rise in savings
Where does the problem lie? Disaggregating debt to asset ratio by age and income
Trends in financial literacy
Disruptions coming post-COVID & importance of financial literacy & skills