Imagine spending hours of your life to: research the best mortgage negotiate for a better rate apply to refinance at a new lender answer all the new lender’s questions collect all your documents get an appraisal review all the paperwork submit all the documents find a lawyer to close the mortgage get ready to close …then be told just five...

Last meeting, the Bank of Canada finally shifted its rate outlook to neutral. After today’s meeting, the gear shifter is still firmly there. Here’s a quick glance at what the BoC did today: Rate Decision: No change Overnight rate: 1.75% Prime Rate: Prime rate remains at 3.95% Market Rate Forecast: Likely one rate cut by the end of 2020 BoC’s Headline Quote: “…the...

This week, the lowest 5-year fixed rates dropped back to 2017 levels. It only took a year and a half. Canada’s cheapest 5-year fixed mortgage is now 2.67% for default-insured applicants, the lowest since December 20, 2017. And fixed rates could keep dipping near-term. What’s Behind It With global growth worries weighing on the market, 5-year bond yields can’t get any...

Rarely have the heads of Canada’s housing agency and largest mortgage broker association been at such odds publicly. It feels like CMHC boss Evan Siddall and Mortgage Professionals Canada (MPC) chief Paul Taylor want to get in the ring and beat the stuffing out of each other. The former published his latest in a series of missives denouncing opponents of...

Self-employed? Don’t declare enough income on your tax returns? Want a mortgage? Lenders are waiting to lend to you. But there’s a price. Their “non-prime” (a.k.a., “alternative”) lending options always come with a rate premium. We don’t talk about non-prime financing very often, but a new such product from B2B Bank is worth a look. B2B Bank recently re-launched its “Business Bank...

This weekend, HSBC seemingly sweetened its 10-year fixed offer even more. It dropped the rate on its website for insured mortgages from the 2.99% announced in its press release Friday to 2.94%. It turns out that was a IT issue. “When they launched the rates, the rate were incorrect on the website,” a spokesperson said. “We have since corrected the...

If you were wondering what it’ll take to get more people interested in a 10-year fixed, here’s your answer: A rate below the psychologically pivotal 3% level. Today, HSBC has become the first lender in Canadian history to sell 10-year fixed mortgages as low as 2.94%. (Note: Our story has been updated as this rate dropped again on Saturday May 18,...

Do you care if some investor in China or France dumps Canadian bonds? Many would answer, no. But when foreign demand for Canadian bonds drops, other things equal, bond prices drop. And given bonds and yields (interest rates) move inversely, and given fixed mortgages are partially funded in the bond market, when overseas demand for Canadian bonds falls, it usually...

It turns out home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) aren’t growing as fast as previous government reports suggest. Prior regulatory filings showed HELOC balances increasingly at roughly double the pace of mortgages. Now, a new report from the Bank of Canada confirms the opposite. “The total balance of HELOCs contracted by 1% year-over-year…” in the fourth quarter of 2018, it...

One of the worst mortgage policies in Canadian history could come to an end by next year. That is, if the Conservatives win the October 21 federal election. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer summarized the problem for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association on Friday, saying: “If you want to switch lenders you have to go through the stress test. But if...