Rocket Mortgage Canada winding down operations + MORE Mar 7th

Rocket Mortgage Canada is shutting down its lending business, with operations expected to wind down by the end of June.

 A quick note… we’ve all heard about the Trump Tariffs. It will make everything more expensive. Canada and also in the USA. It will put people’s jobs at risk, we are likely to see layoffs, and economists are forecasting for a recession. This is if the tariffs do go through and continue for over a month.

Now that I’ve cheered you up, here’s the good news. And there is some.  Mortgage rates are headed lower. Fixed rates and variable rates. The old rule of bad economic news brings lower interest rates is true. A few things to point out about How interest rates are calculated.

Mortgage pricing has become very complicated. The best rates are for insured purchases. You put less than 20% down payment. For those of more than 20% down, interest rates are more expensive. Yes, sounds strange but it’s true. The insurance is default insurance which protects the mortgage lender against loss and this is why those mortgages are priced lower.

I’m seeing advertisements for interest rates under 4%…

TD Bank reported flat growth in its residential mortgage portfolio for Q1 2025, attributing part of the weakness to seasonality.

Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area fell by more than one-quarter in February compared with a year ago despite buyers maintaining “substantial” negotiating power.