News, Views and Trends!
Rate forecasting isn’t rocket science – it’s more common sense than you think! But, it requires a clear mind to make sense of all the rubbish that’s being published these days.
I’ve been forecasting for a while now that interest rates would start to come back down this year. Currently, interest rates are down by around 0.4% and will come down further.
WHY ARE RATES FALLING? Continue reading “Mortgage Rates have Dropped and Will Fall Further”
There’s a great new flexible interest-only mortgage product that could prove beneficial for a number of borrowers, including first-timers, real estate investors, professionals, seasonal workers and others looking for lower monthly mortgage payments.
Designed to help borrowers increase monthly cash flow by providing maximum flexibility, this product can be used for both purchases and refinances.
I recently tried this product out and was really impressed!
Continue reading “Looking to boost Cash Flow? New Flexible Mortgage could be a game-changer!”
In order to fully understand how to take advantage of record-low variable rates, it’s important to learn some mortgage history.
BMO came out swinging first a week ago with a variable rate of Prime minus 1.00%. Historically, when a BIG SIX BANK comes out with a huge price decrease, it’s only for a very short time – likely 2-3 weeks. But, during that time, they can gain massive volumes and satisfy their market share requirements from the average borrower.
With all the talk of interest rates going up, this is welcome news for borrowers. Last week, I wrote about Variable rates at Prime minus 1.09%. This week, the banks have caught on.
Continue reading “And the Variable Rate price wars begin… Here’s how you can benefit!”
Quoting rates isn’t straightforward anymore. Your final rate is based on your credit score, purchase price or home value (homes over $1 million purchased after Oct 17, 2016 have higher rates), the loan to value (mortgages under 65% LTV and above 80% LTV get best rates), location, job type and income confirmation documents.
That’s right… ALL these factors will determine your interest rate!
Today, there’s a great variable rate available at Prime minus 1.09%. That translates to 2.39%. This is a real rate… it’s not a bait-and-switch ad like so many rate-comparison sites are quoting these days.
Continue reading “Prime minus 1.09%… Yes, this is a record-low Variable Rate!”
Next Wednesday will be the first Bank of Canada meeting date to set the Target rate, which directly affects Bank Prime rate and Variable rate mortgages. It’s almost a certainty that the Bank of Canada Governor, Stephen Poloz, will raise the rates.
POSITIVE DATA MEANS HIGHER RATES
There’s been too much positive economic data lately. Low unemployment levels (5.7%, the lowest since the ’70s), higher spending by consumers, slightly higher inflation (2.1%), record level stock market. We’ve also seen some comments and posturing by the Bank of Canada Govr that suggests we should expect a 0.25% increase.
Bond yields have also been moving steadily upward. Yup, we should expect a rate hike. And depending on how the market reacts to this, we could possibly see another rate hike at the next Bank of Canada meeting on March 7th.
BUT WAIT, IS THIS THE END OF MORTGAGE RATES IN THE 3.00%’s?
Continue reading “Rates are going up… for now… is this the end of low rates?”
