TagMortgage Rates

Is This the End of Rate Hikes?

The last few months have been tough to say the least. Variable rates are at their highest levels in 20 years. The prime rate has gone up 4.25% in less than 12 months. Every Bank of Canada announcement feels like it could be another 50 point jump. If you’re a homeowner, it’s seemingly never ending. The news certainly doesn’t help you feel otherwise. But if you take a look at what’s happened in the past, you’ll see that the time we’re in isn’t so unprecedented. We’ve been here before and we’ve gotten out of it – and I believe we’re doing it all over again.

Posted 3 days ago Consumer Debt

The News Says Home Prices Are Falling… But Are They?

At work, on Twitter, on the news – wherever you are, it seems like everyone is talking about home prices plummeting. That’s the big headline. It’s a neat and tidy story that seems to make sense on the surface: home prices skyrocketed. Then rates went up. Then home prices started slipping. It’s the kind of story that gets clicks and sells newspapers. But if you look beneath the surface you’ll see the full story – one that’s a lot more optimistic, and one that the media often fails to report.

Posted 4 weeks ago1 Comment Finance

What To Expect in 2023

Happy new year everyone! I hope everyone reading this took some time to reflect and recharge over the holiday season. There was a lot of negativity swirling around in 2022, and I’m sure a lot of you needed a break from it all. I sure did. It’s easy to get swept up in all of the doom-and-gloom. But if you look at the big picture, you might see that there’s a lot to be optimistic about in 2023 – in the housing market, the economy, and beyond.

Posted 2 months ago Bank News

A Stand-Off Between the Bank of Canada and the Government of Canada

To start off, a bit of good news for once: the average 5-year fixed rate mortgage has fallen over the last two months. Some qualified borrowers are now able to secure a rate as low as 4.89%. But of course, it is good news, so you probably didn’t see it reported in the mainstream media.

Here’s what you likely did see: the overnight rate went up by yet another 0.50% on December 7 to 4.25%. Another staggering increase at a time when most experts predicted rates would start levelling out. Not only is this rate hike significant – it’s actually record-breaking. A whopping 4.00% increase in just 9 months took us from some of the lowest rates of this century to the highest.

Posted November 4, 20221 Comment Bank News

Insights From A Top Canadian Economist: Part 2

Canadian economist Benjamin Tal’s presentation at the National Mortgage Brokers Conference was eye-opening. In it, he posited a holistic view of what’s happening with the Canadian economy and what we can expect to happen next. He’s rarely been wrong in the 20 years I’ve been following him – so I thought it was incredibly important to share his insights with you.

Part 1 of this series dives into the forces he believes are impacting inflation. These include international economies as well as lasting effects from the pandemic. There’s one factor however that I believe is most responsible for our current economic climate and is worthy of a larger conversation: the labour market.