Mortgages in Canada can be a murky subject – one that we hope to shed some light on with a series of highly informational articles.
Latest News
Scotiabank to buy small Dallas bank in mortgage-finance play + MORE May 30th
Scotiabank agreed to acquire Maple Financial Holdings Inc., which owns a small U.S. commercial bank, as the Canadian firm looks to expand its structured-finance business in the American mortgage industry. .... More »
Vancouver's Pre-Sale Condo Market Is Hot To Trot Jan 29th
By Lydia McNutt
More than 10,500 new condo units* are slated to hit the Greater Vancouver housing market this year, according to MLA Canada's 2017 Market Intel report -- opening up plenty of more-affordable housing options for prospective homebuyers who have been priced out of the single-detached s.... More »
Surviving the Sprint to the Bottom Jul 5th
Lots of brokers out there criticize rate buydowns. They argue that buydowns cause a “race to the bottom” in mortgage pricing. If that’s how you feel as a mortgage broker, take solace. The race isn’t far from the finish line. Online mortgage rates have already plunged to levels where some bro.... More »
Building the Right Team at Mortgage Time + MORE Dec 4th
Your mortgage is one of the largest purchase items you will probably take on in your life. In making that commitment, you will most likely seek advice from several people: your family, your partner, your real estate agent, your financial planner and your mortgage broker.
Ensuring that you employ.... More »
2020 – Year in Review + MORE Jan 7th
Now that the page has finally been turned on 2020, we wanted to take a look back at how mortgage rates fared over the course of what was a tumultuous year. It’s safe to say that COVID-19 stole the show in terms of the year’s biggest newsmaker. On the mortgage front, one of the biggest th.... More »
Are You Set For Holiday Debt?
– ratesupermarket.ca
With Halloween in the rearview, you’ve likely noticed your favourite retailers have gone full-on festive. With the motivation to spend on every street corner, this is an especially expensive time of year for many families. Factor in an ultra-low Canadian dollar, and it may be tougher than ever to avoid the red this holiday season.
Read on for the full story.
T’is The Season For a Rate Hold
Fixed mortgage rates are in for a slight uptick this month, according to our expert Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel. What does that mean for you if you’re on the market? Check out our full November forecast.
Read Penelope’s Blog | T’is the Season For a Rate Hold
The Low Loonie Won’t Stop 2015 Holiday Shoppers
The Canadian dollar may be at an 11-year low, but that’s not hampering holiday shoppers. A recent report from MonerisMetrics finds the year’s highest sales volumes are still to come, with consumer confidence as high as ever. What are we spending the most on? Read on for the full story…
Is Canada’s Inflation Target In For a Change?
– ratesupermarket.ca
Most homeowners – and would-be homeowners – know that the Bank of Canada (BOC) regularly makes announcements about its benchmark “Key Interest Rate.” Those are the days when we find out if the interest rate on variable mortgages is going up, down, or staying the same.
But the BOC also manages Canada’s inflation target – and may be considering a shakeup in order to cope with today’s recovering economy.
The 2 Percenters
If you missed Economics 101, inflation refers to the rising cost of consumer goods over time. In a healthy economy, prices rise almost imperceptibly, so consumers don’t really notice any negative impact from the cost of their cup of coffee going up a dime or that heating their home is a few dollars more a year. But if inflation rises too fast, people’s spending power diminishes drastically. In one of the most extreme cases of “hyperinflation,” over a four-year period in the early 1920s, the value of German currency went from about 90 marks to the U…
New Light on Mortgage Exposure
– canadianmortgagetrends.com
If the housing market blows up, how much are we on the hook for as taxpayers? That’s a question that housing skeptics have asked since the peak of the financial crisis. And in a speech yesterday, CMHC CEO Evan Siddall provided the closest thing we’ve seen to an answer. CMHC has heavily invested in stress testing its default insurance business, he said. The agency has considered virtually all plausible doomsday scenarios (global deflation, lingering $35 oil, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake in Vancouver, etc.), and even non-plausible ones including a “zombie apocalypse,” Siddall jested. The hypothetical disaster scenario CMHC settled on was READ MORE
