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Posted Mortgage Rates

Variable Rate is up 0.25%

Bank of Canada raised their Target Rate by 0.25% to 1.00%.   We will see the Retail Bank’s Prime lending rate go up from 2.75% to 3.00%.

Governor, Mark Carney, said “Any further reduction in monetary stimulus would need to be carefully considered in light of the unusual uncertainty surrounding the outlook,” .    This is sounding like we won’t see any further hikes til some time next year as the Government evaluates the economy and the global markets.

I still like Variable rate… at 2.30% to 2.50%, this is still much better than the 5 year fixed rate of 3.75%, which is what we are seeing today.

Posted Mortgage News

School’s in for Bank of Canada

To all the kids…. including my son…..”Have a great year at school.. make it fun… make it count”.

Tomorrow is the 6th of 8 scheduled meetings for 2010 by the Bank of Canada…a time when they set the Target Rate or Overnight Rate, which directly affects the Bank Prime Rate and your Variable Rate Mortgage.

The original plan called for Mark Carney, Governor of Bank of Canada, to raise interest rates steadily over the next year or so by as much as 3.00%… but it’s become a little tougher to make that move.

Less than impressive economic news in the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world has given concern about a double dip recession…. raising the rates during a period of uncertainty is risky business.   Right now, experts are calling for a 60% chance of a rate hike but then a pause to see how this will affect the economy.

Longer term forecasts have been amended for more modest rate hikes in 2011….  all good news for Borrowers…  stay tuned as we continue to monitor the latest reports…

Bottom line, new Variable rate mortgages can be had for around 2.05% to 2.10%… so even a 1.50% increase would  beat out a 5 year fixed rate….

Posted Mortgage News

When should I lock in my Variable rate mortgage?

A thought on the minds of many, with all the talk of ‘Historical low fixed mortgage rates’ and ‘rising Variable rates’.   “When should I lock in my Variable rate mortgage?”

Here’s a quick suggestion and rule that I follow… We only want to lock in our Variable rate mortgage when we think Variable rates will go way up and for an extended period of time…

But we must also look at what we can lock into… if you are in a 2.10% Variable rate mortgage, would you lock into a 3.89% fixed mortgage rate?   I’m not sure I would…. I think it will take a few years before my Variable rate mortgage approaches today’s Fixed rate…..  why pay more today when you don’t have to?

For me, I can’t see Variable rate mortgages underperforming Fixed Rates over the 12 to 17 years that it will take us to pay our mortgage off.  Having said that, we are always evaluating the Market Trends and will adjust our strategies when needed.  A mortgage is a huge debt and deserves a solid strategy to retire this debt with the lowest cost.

Ultimately, it will come down to risk tolerance, your personal budget and what you believe will be the better strategy.  Consult your Mortgage Broker to better understand the differences.

By the way, you might be interested in knowing that certain Banks and Trust companies have recently started to pay us more to offer fixed rate mortgages over Variable rate Mortgages…Good Mortgage Brokers don’t let the compensation dictate which product they recommend.  They recommend what they believe is right for the client.

Posted 1 Comment on 3 year fixed mortgage rates under 3.00% Mortgage News

3 year fixed mortgage rates under 3.00%

Fixed mortgage rates are sitting at around 3.89% for a 5 year closed and 2.90% for a 3 year closed.  These are definitely attractive rates and are at or near historical lows…

Why?  The Bond market has dropped significantly over the past 3 months…. this has come as a surprise to many but not all…  The economic recovery isn’t as certain as we once thought… with mixed data coming out about our economy, this uncertainty will cause interest rates to stay low…

Once trend that has caught our eye is that lenders are now offering Mortgage Brokers a higher commission to sell a 3 year and a 5 year fixed rate product… and although that may attract more busy from some, I’m still recommending the Variable Rate mortgage, even though we get paid less.. it’s always about doing what’s in our client’s best interest.

Variable rate has been a proven winner over the past 25 years… I don’t think our economy is as strong as some would think….There has been improvement but we have a long way to go before we can say we are out… Hence the lower fixed mortgage rates… Variable rates will increase but it will be a slow, steady climb… with current Variable rates at 2.10%, Variable has a long way to go before it is not cost-effective.

Posted 1 Comment on Banks are not without blame in mortgage fraud. Mortgage News

Banks are not without blame in mortgage fraud.

Now here’s a strange twist….   Read this report about a claim filed in BC that states BMO and RBC were “willfully blind” when approving mortgages for a marijuana grow-op…. The report says that a ‘cook’ and a ‘cashier’ owned this particular house at different times… Makes you wonder how a ‘cook’ or a ‘cashier’ could afford a house in Vancouver where average house prices are close to $1,000,000.

There’s an old saying, “when times get tough, the garbage will hit the fan”…. maybe there is another word used besides garbage, but you get the point.

During the last big recession in 1989-90, there were numerous reports about mortgage fraud.    It’s not that fraud only occurred during this time, it’s that Banks finally lost money when property values stopped increasing and started declining.  Fraud occurs all the time but it’s not something that the Banks want to report on for fear it will diminish their credibility in the eyes of investors and the public.

I have a suggestion.   Maybe the Banks should start to look within and see how they compensate their staff….Most banks now tie in their employee’s compensation directly to sales.  Credit cards, loans, lines of credit, bank accounts and mortgages. Every time the Banker sells one of these products they are compensated according to the sale….

What’s even worse are the 100% commissioned bank employees that sell mortgages… the so-called ‘Mortgage Specialists’… These sales people are paid based on the mortgage amount, the product, term and the interest rate.   It sure would be nice if ‘Mortgage Specialists’ were regulated like Mortgage Brokers… held accountable for all mortgage transactions under the Provincial government regulations….These regulations carry severe penalties for fraud….Just a thought?

Watch for more stories like this to unfold in the coming months…  hopefully, this won’t be an excuse for the Banks to charge more fees or raise the cost of borrowing…