The most common question we receive is, "Should I go fixed or variable?" While we don't have a crystal ball, there are certain trends we have come to notice from closely watching rate changes over the last decade. Ultimately, fixed and variable rates are impacted...
Previously a staple for bank profit, mortgage investment growth is near rock bottom. Mortgages were previously the most growing and profitable sector of the big banks, says Craig Fehr with Edward Jones & Co. “The bread-and-butter of profitability for Canadian banks — is going to...
It's no secret the Alberta real estate market has seen better times. Jason Kenney, leader of the opposition to current premier Rachel Notley, vows to stand up for Alberta in this regard if elected. "The current NDP government has been absolutely silent about this. We...
New analyst reports are hinting at why BMO moved to offer that trendsetting 2.99 per cent rate, at the same time suggesting the offer may come back to bite it – and, indeed, the industry. The big bank trod out that historical interest rate early last...
(Article Source: Rob McLister, CMT) CMHC Raises Mortgage Premiums People without a 20% down payment will be paying more to buy a house. Come May 1, the nation’s largest default insurer is bumping up its standard premiums by 0.10 to 0.40 percentage points. It’s the first hike...
Total MLS residential sales in the city up 12.63% - Calgary’s housing market picked up steam in March as MLS sales surged compared with a year ago — led by stunning growth in the single-family category. According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, total residential MLS sales...
How Mortgage Brokers Work Getting on the infamous property ladder and buying your first home is a life changing experience that can be both an exciting and exhausting process. Your home will be not only one of the biggest purchases of your life (unless you’re one of the...
What’s the trick to a better mortgage rate? That’s what folks at the Bank of Canada (BoC) wanted to know. It led them to undertake an extensive study on mortgage discounting. A draft of that study was released this month and below are its conclusions. All quotes that follow originate from the...
A new poll suggests economists are increasingly convinced the government will move to ratchet down mortgage rules in 2012 – that even as the broker channel ramps up lobbying efforts to block the move. Some 10 of 14 economists and strategists surveyed for Reuter’s first poll...
Canadian debt levels are at historic highs and this is largely due to people taking on bigger mortgages. Mortgages make up 68 per cent of Canadian’s total debt, according to the CMHC’s Canadian Housing Observer 2011. That’s a total of $1.042 trillion we owe on our...