Fixed mortgage rates look like a runaway train. Thanks to Friday’s epic jobs report, the 5-year government bond yield, a leading indicator of fixed rates, closed the week above 1.00% for the first time in a year. That coincided with a barrage of new fixed-rate hikes at the big banks. Most major banks internally elevated their fixed rates this week...
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....
5-year fixed mortgage rates tend to shadow 5-year government yields. And for most of nine months, the 5-year yield has been locked in a 21-basis-point range, a range so tight it was practically inconceivable prior to COVID. And, while no one has ever seen a range like this in our lifetimes, ultimately the 5-year yield will break out. When that...
In Brief Today’s Announcement:No change to rates Overnight rate:0.25% Prime Rate:2.45% (also no change; seePrime Rate) Market Rate Forecast:No BoC hikes until late 2022 BoC’s Headline Quote: “The Governing Council will hold the policy interest rate at the effective lower bound until economic slack is absorbed so that the 2% inflation target is sustainably achieved. In our projection, this does...
“Vaccines have come too late to avoid a bleak winter,” said Capital Economics in a report last week. The market agrees. Canada’s two-year bond yield, often used to forecast Bank of Canada rate policy, hit a record low on Thursday. That coincides with recent BoC comments that it could cut the overnight rate by less than the standard 25 basis...
Quick Rundown Today’s Announcement:No change to rates Overnight rate:0.25% Prime Rate:2.45% (also no change; seePrime Rate) Market Rate Forecast:No BoC hikes until at least 2023 BoC’s Headline Quote: “The Governing Council will hold the policy interest rate at the effective lower bound until economic slack is absorbed so that the 2% inflation target is sustainably achieved.” BoC on the Economy:...
—The Mortgage Report: Nov. 30— Trudeau’s government said Monday that it plans to lift Canada’s debt ceiling by up to 57% as it embarks on record spending and deficits in the name of pandemic relief. Canada’s historic deficit just keeps on climbing. It’s now estimated at $381.6 billion for the current fiscal year, up from $343.2 billion this summer and...
—The Mortgage Report: Nov. 27— If you’re out there mortgage shopping, BoC chief Tiff Macklem had a message for you Thursday: “We want to be very clear, Canadians can be confident that borrowing costs are going to remain very low for a long time.” It’s a mantra he’s repeated for months. Among the reasons: “…The economy still has more than...
—The Mortgage Report: Nov. 17— Remember that rate: 8 3/4%? Your average first-time buyer wouldn’t, as he/she would’ve been just seven years old at the time (1991). 8.75% was a tremendous 1-year fixed rate back then. But man, did it take a bite out of people’s budgets. Consider that on a standard $100,000 mortgage, you would’ve paid: $811 a month,...
Bond yields shot up like a cannonball after news broke this morning of Pfizer’s positive vaccine trials. Canada’s 5-year swap rate, one of the best leading indicators of fixed mortgage rates, sailed to a 5-month high. Now, everyone’s trying to figure out how long it’ll take before this translates into above-target inflation, which would be the Bank of Canada’s trigger...
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