News, Views and Trends!
Last week, I participated in a webinar featuring Economist Dr. Peter Andersen. While there was a lot of information covered, today I want to focus on a couple of key areas.
Happy 150th Canada! Mortgage rates are going up. Hooray! Ok, yes, I’m being sarcastic.
This isn’t the cheery message you wanna hear if you have a mortgage coming up for renewal soon. But, hold on. What does this really mean? It’s a great attention grabber. And now that you’re reading, let’s cut through the bull!
It’s true. Wholesale fixed mortgage rates have gone up.. around 0.15%. Yup, that’s it. Yet, reading all the media headlines would make you believe mortgage rates went up 1.00% or something like that!! This just isn’t the case. And Variable rates haven’t changed as of yet.. Mind you, we could see an increase of 0.25% on July 12.. That’s still putting most Variable rate borrowers at 2.25% and 2.40%.. That’s a ridiculously low rate.
Here’s what’s happening…We’ve seen the media take little snippets of the Bank of Canada Governor, Mr. Stephen Poloz’s comments and turn them into front page headlines. Great for headlines but short of full disclosure. Here’s a more complete picture. Continue reading “Mortgage rates going up a little.. for now. What should you do?”
Here’s a warning to all…. Watch out for the BANKS to increase their Variable rate mortgage pricing. History tells us that when the Bank of Canada lowers their Target Rate, and the Bank Prime falls, Variable rate mortgage pricing increases.
If you have a mortgage coming due in the next 4 months, speak with a mortgage broker to get you a rate hold immediately!
Today, you can get Prime less 0.65% on a Variable rate mortgage. That’s 2.85% – 0.60% = 2.20%. THIS PRICE COULD DISAPPEAR! 2.20% is a great rate! No one would argue that. The BANKS are counting on you to be content with that 2.20% rate. On March 4th, the Bank of Canada meets again to set the Target Rate. And all indications point to another 0.25% reduction. Continue reading “Will Variable rates increase as Bank Prime drops?”
FIXED OR VARIABLE?
The debate over fixed vs variable never seems to end. For the past 5 years, the Federal govt and the BIG SIX BANKS have been doing everything in their power to force us into choosing a 5 year Fixed rate. The govt says it gives us security and protection against the anticipated interest rate hikes. BANKS jumped on this bandwagon because 5 yr fixed is the most profitable mortgage product.. and with fixed rates hovering at 3.00% for the last 3 years, it’s been an easy sell.
On the surface, it’s not bad advice. Fixed rates were supposed to go up. The spread between Fixed and Variable has been less than 1.00% over the last 3 years. My rule of thumb is that Variable rates should be 1.00% lower than 5 yr fixed in order to benefit from the possible rate fluctuations. So naturally, 5 yr fixed was a better choice.
DO YOU TRUST YOUR GOVT AND YOUR BANK? Continue reading “Variable or Fixed? an update on how to choose.”
Last week’s Employment Stats shocked everyone when we didn’t see the expected 14,000 new jobs created as Economists were expecting. Instead, we got hit with a reported 46,000 jobs lost in December. Economists aren’t always accurate with their forecasts (news flash) but they usually aren’t this far off either. We won’t look at why they miscalculated here, but I do want to look at the effects of this bad news on your mortgage.
EFFECT ON FIXED MORTGAGE RATES
Higher unemployment and job loss is never a good thing. We’re not celebrating here. But we need to understand how it affects our mortgage rates. When it comes to rates, bad economic news is good news. And we saw the effects almost immediately. Bond yields dropped by around 0.15% to 1.73%, taking the pressure off Lenders to raise rates (fixed mortgage rates are priced closely to Govt of Cda bond yields). This means fixed mortgages won’t go up anytime soon and could even fall should the bond yields remain at this level. Continue reading “Unexpected job loss report and effect on mortgage rates.”
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