Tag Archive: mortgage rates

Bond yields have sunk this month. And it’s taken no time for skeptics to pronounce that inflation fears are therefore unfounded.

The Mortgage Report: Mar. 17 Fed boss Jerome Powell pledged Wednesday that he would not hike U.S. interest rates “preemptively based on forecasts.” In saying that, the Fed once again left U.S. rates unchanged. But more importantly, it left its general rate outlook unchanged, meaning a consensus of its members still project no Fed rate increases through 2023. If history...

Monday was a reprieve from surging rates in the bond market. Canada’s 5-year swap rate, a good lead indicator of fixed mortgage pricing, fell back towards earth after February’s parabolic surge. So far, four of the Big 6 banks have boosted fixed rates following that leap in funding costs. Here are some of the big names that jacked up fixed...

If you’ve never seen B.C.’s Squamish Chief, it’s an imposing mass of sheer cliff. And Canadian interest rates look like they’re climbing it. The 5-year government yield, which leads fixed mortgage rates, is going straight up. It hasn’t moved this much within a nine-day span in a decade (November 2010, based on closing prices). At 0.94%, it’s now doubled since...

People hear the Bank of Canada predicting no rate increases until 2023 and take that as gospel. Maybe they shouldn’t. The Bank of Canada’s key overnight rate—which more directly impacts floating-rate mortgages—doesn’t constrain fixed mortgage rates in the same way. The latter are driven more by what the bond market thinks the Bank of Canada (and the economy) will do...

It’s not getting any cheaper for banks to fund a fixed-rate mortgage. In fact, Canada’s 5-year swap rate, a common measure of 5-year funding costs at the big banks, is running at a 10-month high. Yet, still we’re seeing lenders trim 5-year fixed rates as the cut-throat spring market approaches. RBC chopped its 5-year fixed by 18 bps last week....

Tangerine has ratcheted up its competitiveness. For non-default insured mortgages, it is suddenly the national leader on four fixed terms: 2-year fixed at 1.64% 3-year fixed at 1.59% (lowest refi rate in the country) 4-year fixed at 1.69%, and 10-year fixed at 2.14%. These are exceptional rates for uninsured mortgages (which include refinances and purchases over $1 million), particularly if...

The government’s “B20” stress test has blocked countless people from buying rental properties as investments. The current 4.79% minimum qualifying rate means would-be buyers have to prove they can afford mortgage payments far above what they’d really pay. Fortunately for some borrowers, there are alternative lenders (e.g., credit unions) that don’t impose the federal stress test. They qualify borrowers on...

The Mortgage Report: Jan. 4, 2021 2020 was a year that took pleasure in humiliating forecasters. From the remarkable bounce in housing, to the resilience of mortgage volumes, to the devastation in big-city rental markets, to the homeowner exodus from urban cores to the lows of contract mortgage rates, to the persistence of high qualifying rates — 2020 made the...

Only fools lock in for a decade. That’s what many thought prior to this year, and some still do. But at least now it’s more debatable. That’s because, for the first time ever, there’s a 10-year mortgage with a 1-handle. On Monday, a few mortgage brokers started advertising a 1.99% 10-year fixed, breaking Tangerine’s prior record of 2.14%. The move...