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Posted 2 Comments on Is your banker giving you their best rate? Case study

Is your banker giving you their best rate?

greedy banker EVEN THE BANK OF CANADA SAYS MORTGAGE BROKERS WILL GET YOU A LOWER RATE.

The Bank of Canada did a study a few years ago called Competition in the Canadian Mortgage Market.   The study concluded that consumers get a lower interest rate through brokers.    They also said that higher income earners were actually paying higher rates because they are less likely to spend the time to shop around for lower rates.

Last week, I did an interview for the news media about what a broker does.   They also interviewed one of my clients.  This client owns more than one property, he’s an experienced real estate investor and a senior manager for a major corporation.  He uses my service because I save him time and money.   He trusts my advice.  It’s that simple.   Here’s a link to the article.

IS YOUR BANKER GIVING THE BEST RATE?

A simple question.  How many of us can truly answer, yes?    You walk into your branch, you see a posted rate.  Then your banker shows you the “special rate” or “discounted rate”.   And then maybe they tell you they can do a little better.  But how much better?  And why aren’t they giving this up front?   Don’t loyal customers deserve the best?  Does this game sound familiar?

Continue reading “Is your banker giving you their best rate?”

Posted Interest rates

2.99% is back… does that mean we should take it?

record low rates5 year fixed @ 2.99% is back.   This is NOT a NO FRILLS product (for those of you that saw a similar rate elsewhere earlier this year) but there is tougher qualifying.   This seems to have become an annual event.  For the past 3 years, we’ve seen 2.99% or less, being offered each Spring.   So, why haven’t rates gone up like the Bank’s economists, government analysts and other so-called ‘experts’ had predicted?

There are several reasons but, to sum it all up, the global economies haven’t recovered from the 2008 recession.    The US recovery is slower than expected.   Canada’s inflation rate is below target levels.   There were even concerns we could see deflation, which would cause the Bank of Canada to lower rates… those concerns have gone away…. for now!

WHAT’S THE FORECAST NOW?

Continue reading “2.99% is back… does that mean we should take it?”

Posted 2 Comments on Bank of Canada says no rate hikes, but possible rate drops!! Mortgage News

Bank of Canada says no rate hikes, but possible rate drops!!

stephen poloz  Last week, the Bank of Canada governor, Stephen Poloz, held the first of 8 scheduled meetings to set the Target Rate.    This is the rate used to set the Bank Prime rate which currently sits at 3.00%.   No surprise, no change in the rate.  It has been the same since Sept 2010.

From 2011 to 2013, the previous Bank of Canada governor, Mark Carney, continually announced of a pending rate increase.   But late last year, Poloz changed the tide when he announced it could be a few years before rates go up.   One of the key drivers for rate hikes is inflation.  The BoC target for inflation is between 1% and 3%.  If inflation goes above 3%, we can expect rate hikes.

Inflation is not a concern.  In fact, there are concerns about deflation as the current inflation rate sit at 1.2%.  Some experts believe we could see the BoC rate drop.  Great news for anyone in a Variable rate.   We are also seeing the govt of Cda bond yields drop.   Friday’s close was down to 1.59% for 5 yr bonds.  Haven’t seen that level since June 2013.   This means Fixed mortgage rates will probably go down further. Continue reading “Bank of Canada says no rate hikes, but possible rate drops!!”