Canadian housing mortgage rates are all over the map. Don’t get trapped in an unnecessarily costly mortgage agreement.
Latest News
Shelter takes larger share in updated CPI basket weights + MORE Jun 17th
The latest update to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket gives even more weight to shelter costs—particularly mortgage interest and rent—underscoring just how much housing expenses are shaping the inflation experience of Canadians..... More »
Another US Govt shutdown… could mean lower mortgage rates for Canada. + MORE Oct 3rd
Remember the U.S. Debt ceiling crisis in the summer of 2011? Panic was an understatement. That story dominated headlines for close to 2 months. Stock markets dropped, but mortgage rates dropped, too. In fact, fixed wholesale mortgage rates dropped 0.50% in the months leading up to the Deb.... More »
Canadians Slow to Automate Financial Services + MORE Feb 1st
People are increasingly open to purely automated banking and investment services. But Canadians also lag the world in robo-advice acceptance, finds a recent survey. Accenture Financial Service’s 2017 consumer study reveals that 6 in 10 Canadians (59%) would use entirely computer-generated su.... More »
Is the COVID-19 emergency over? An economists prosepective. + MORE Sep 14th
I recently participated in a conference call with Scotiabank’s Chief Economist & SVP, Jean-Francois Perrault and John Webster President & CEO Scotia Mortgage Corporation. It was good to hear real financial experts make sense of what has happened and what will most likely hap.... More »
Are CMHC Condo Stats Skewed? + MORE Oct 29th
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) has released its housing forecast for 2016 and 2017 and it’s not as rosy as homeowners have hoped. Although the CMHC doesn’t foresee a housing bubble, the crown corporation predicts housing prices will barely keep up with the rate of inflation over the .... More »
First Calgary Financial – 2 year Closed : 2.89% (0.22%)
– ratesupermarket.ca
First Calgary Financial 2 year Closed mortgage rate was changed on July 24, 2013
CMHC limits and their affect on you
– mortgageshowdown.com
The Department of Finance and CMHC recently announced that they were enforcing their CMHC limits on Canadian Lenders.
First, a little bit of the back story on CMHC limits:
Every January, the government of Canada and CMHC set a maximum amount of mortgage volume that CMHC is allowed to insure. For 2013, that number was $85 billion, however, by the end of July lenders had already used $66 billion or 78% the insurance allowed for this year. To ensure that the insurance limit is not reached before the end of the year, and that all lenders and in turn Canadians have fair access to CMHC insurance, it has recently been announced that each lender has been limited to $350 million of insurance for this month. This is a stop gap procedure until a more formalized allocation and process can be created by CMHC.
Rylan, what do you think could have caused this run on CMHC limits?
Well, I am glad you asked. My personal thought is that the blame for this “emergency” lies with the banks and more specifically with their pocket protector wearing risk managers…
First, a little bit of the back story on CMHC limits:
Every January, the government of Canada and CMHC set a maximum amount of mortgage volume that CMHC is allowed to insure. For 2013, that number was $85 billion, however, by the end of July lenders had already used $66 billion or 78% the insurance allowed for this year. To ensure that the insurance limit is not reached before the end of the year, and that all lenders and in turn Canadians have fair access to CMHC insurance, it has recently been announced that each lender has been limited to $350 million of insurance for this month. This is a stop gap procedure until a more formalized allocation and process can be created by CMHC.
Rylan, what do you think could have caused this run on CMHC limits?
Well, I am glad you asked. My personal thought is that the blame for this “emergency” lies with the banks and more specifically with their pocket protector wearing risk managers…
Mortgage conundrums
– moneysense.ca
Real estate blogger Jamie Sarner has interesting post about how to finance the stage in between buying a new home and selling the old one.
On a related note, The Greater Fool has good blog post on VTBs, or vendor take-back mortgages. Here’s why the concept popularized in the 1990s is catching on again and why he thinks you should be wary of it.
BMO and Vanguard launched new investment products this week. BMO introduced two new portfolio solutions andfive new mutual funds. Vanguard meanwhile introduced five new equity ETFs with average management fee of 0.21%.
On a related note, The Greater Fool has good blog post on VTBs, or vendor take-back mortgages. Here’s why the concept popularized in the 1990s is catching on again and why he thinks you should be wary of it.
BMO and Vanguard launched new investment products this week. BMO introduced two new portfolio solutions andfive new mutual funds. Vanguard meanwhile introduced five new equity ETFs with average management fee of 0.21%.
Uptrending Rates Aren’t Time to Gamble
– canadianmortgagetrends.com
Take a peek at the recent trend in this chart. (Chart source: MarketWatch) It’s a graph of the 5-year government bond yield—the guiding force behind long-term fixed mortgage rates. On…
When to rent out your property
– moneysense.ca
Q: We have purchased a new home and were planning to sell our current home. We are now thinking about renting it and taking some equity out to use for the down payment on our new home. Does this make sense?
—J.O., Woodstock, Ont.
A: We don’t love this strategy. While it is possible, we think it is too complex for most people to pull off effectively. Ask yourself some questions before you decide if it is right for you.
First, would this rental business be profitable? Look at how much you could realistically rent the property for, subtract the costs of the mortgage, maintenance, and property taxes and factor in the relevant tax deductions on those expenses to see if you’d be able to at least break even. You’ll need to talk to your lender to see how financing will work between the new home and the rental property to see what your interest expense will be. And be sure to factor into your math higher interest rates down the road. While you’re at it, talk to a professional tax adviser, says Evelyn Jacks, author of Jacks on Tax…
—J.O., Woodstock, Ont.
A: We don’t love this strategy. While it is possible, we think it is too complex for most people to pull off effectively. Ask yourself some questions before you decide if it is right for you.
First, would this rental business be profitable? Look at how much you could realistically rent the property for, subtract the costs of the mortgage, maintenance, and property taxes and factor in the relevant tax deductions on those expenses to see if you’d be able to at least break even. You’ll need to talk to your lender to see how financing will work between the new home and the rental property to see what your interest expense will be. And be sure to factor into your math higher interest rates down the road. While you’re at it, talk to a professional tax adviser, says Evelyn Jacks, author of Jacks on Tax…
