Tagmortgage rate forecast

Posted January 11, 20163 Comments Mortgage Rates

US Fed rate hike doesn’t mean Bank of Cda rate hike!

Last month, the US Fed Reserve Bank Chairperson, Janet Yellen, raised rates for the first time since 2006. Historically, Canada follows the US with rate movement.. However, times are changing…Don’t expect Canada to follow the US move anytime soon.

Divergence. That’s the new buzz-word. Bank of Cda Govr, Stephen Poloz said, “Usually you think of the Canadian economy following the U.S. economy fairly closely. This will be one of those places where it really doesn’t.” “But as a macro statement, there will a divergence there. We’re already seeing it, and so you should expect a divergence in policy too,” he said. Continue reading “US Fed rate hike doesn’t mean Bank of Cda rate hike!”

Posted November 24, 20154 Comments Interest rates

Mortgage rates went up…. but why? And will they continue to go up?

A month ago, I said Fixed mortgage rates probably hit the bottom. A week later, fixed mortgage rates started to go up… around 0.20% over the past 3 weeks. Variable rate mortgage pricing has gone from Prime less 0.65% to Prime less Prime less 0.40%.

Now, here’s the thing…. I don’t think rates will skyrocket over the next 6 or 12 months, like the pessimists would have you believe. I think mortgage rates hit the bottom….BUT, they probably won’t go up very quickly.

In fact, the forecast now is for the Bank of Canada rate to stay the same until 2017. This is just another example of how the world has become a smaller place. If someone sneezes in Germany, we catch a cold. With most of the global economies just getting by, there isn’t much reason for mortgage rates to go crazy. They should remain low.

The key driver for rates going up recently is nothing more than profit taking. Banks have had a great year… In case you didn’t know. That’s right.. we seem to forget that 2015 was one of the best years on record for real estate and mortgage volume… and house prices have never been higher. Funny how that seems to get lost in the media reports.

Look for Variable rate pricing to fall in the new year… Fixed rates could also come down slightly, but don’t count on them hitting the record lows that we saw this summer. Hey, that’s not to say rates are bad. We are still well under 3.00%. These are ridiculously low mortgage rates. Enjoy them while you can.

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis 416 224 0114 steve@mortgagenow.ca

Posted November 5, 20152 Comments Interest rates

Trudeau sworn in as new PM, and bond yields jump leading to higher fixed mortgage rates!

Yesterday, our new Prime Minister gets sworn in. Justin Trudeau is Canada’s 23rd Prime Minister. Some interesting facts… Bond yields have gone up significantly in the last 2 weeks, since the election. Fixed rates are priced directly from the Govt of Cda Bond yields. If the yields go up, then fixed mortgage rates go up. If they go down, then fixed mortgage rates go down.

Since the election on Oct 19, the bond yields have made a steady climb upwards. Going from around 0.80% to 0.97% today.. Investors seem to think the Trudeau govt will keep it’s promise and spend our way to prosperity. The concern is that if the govt of Canada increases its borrowing, the borrowing costs will go up. Meaning it will cost the govt more, which in turn affects personal borrowing costs. That’s you and I.

Watch for fixed mortgage rates to climb over the next month or so. Right now, the increase is expected to be minimal…. but that could change.

I’ll be watching and reporting how this plays out. Let’s hope the campaign promise of increasing the deficit was one of those promises that doesn’t get honored. If you want to keep borrowing costs low, then you also want less govt, not more.

Your best interest is my only interest. I reply to all questions and I welcome your comments. Like this article? Share with a friend.

Steve Garganis 416 224 0114 steve@mortgagenow.ca

Posted January 27, 20142 Comments Mortgage News

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

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!!”

Posted October 2, 20132 Comments Interest rates

Another US Govt shutdown… could mean lower mortgage rates for Canada.

Remember the U.S. Debt ceiling crisis in the summer of 2011? Panic was an understatement. That story dominated headlines for close to 2 months. Stock markets dropped, but mortgage rates dropped, too. In fact, fixed wholesale mortgage rates dropped 0.50% in the months leading up to the Debt Ceiling deadline, from June to August…. And continued to drop another 0.70% into 2012.

Mortgage rates hit all-time lows in the fall of 2011 and just kept right on dropping. We hit our the all-time low in May 2013 before rates jumped almost 1.00% to our present 3.69%. (This is for 5 year fixed mortgages. Variable rates did not budge… Bank Prime rate has changed since Sept 2010…that’s important to remember as I will explain later) Continue reading “Another US Govt shutdown… could mean lower mortgage rates for Canada.”