I came across the article Mortgages still the story of the day for the big banks in the Globe and Mail. It is a long article and the title of the article seems to not be entirely consistent with everything stated in the article (this seems to be pretty common practice in newspaper articles from what I have seen). The article is rather wishy-washy in how it comes to the conclusion of an increase in mortgage rates, but here is the summary:
(more…)

I have now had some time to think about and digest more the changes that are coming April 19th to the mortgage rules, the ones that are published, and the ones that aren’t. Everyone is still cloudy on exactly how the changes will be implemented and additionally what effect it will have on the market, especially in Vancouver. (more…)

Another new item of news with mortgage implications has come out today:

Pressure grows for Bank of Canada to hike rates

In sharp contrast to my variable mortgage outlook from one day ago, this new article talks about very strong growth in the Canadian economy the past quarter, and how there is pressure to raise rates as soon as next rate update in 5 weeks from now (the last update happened this morning and mortgage rates were unchanged). (more…)

This is one new article that came across my desk this morning:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100226/business/us_economy

In summary, it is stating that the pace of growth for the US economy for the last quarter of 2009 was 5.9%, beating analyst estimates. Why is a mortgage broker writing a commentary on the US economy? I will tell you in a second. (more…)

http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCATRE5BK2FU20091221

I find this to be an interesting article. This is similar to what the government did last year with regards to requiring 5% downpayment and eliminating 40 year amortizations. At that time last year, although it made my job a little more difficult in terms of financing clients, I could understand why they did take those measures and I think things have worked out quite well in terms of stabilizing the Canadian real estate markets. (more…)

Here is some good news for those in variable rate mortgages:

Low rates look safe for a while

Low interest rates and a rising Canadian dollar are giving strong hope that the Bank of Canada prime rate will stay low for the forseeable future. (more…)

There is a new article in the National Post discussing whether home-owners should choose fixed or variable in todays economic environment.

Fixed or variable? Time to revisit

It is interesting to me that over much of the time I have been in this industry, there are always pushes by the banks and media towards fixed rate mortgages, as this article appears to be intended for. The article seems similar in that while they always admit that over the long term, variable rate come out well ahead of fixed rates, the next words out of their mouths are “but that was before, and this is now.” (more…)

If you have ever taken out a loan, used a credit card or participated in a “buy now, pay later” offer, you will have a credit history. Your credit report contains personal information, credit information, banking information, public records (bankruptcies or credit related judgments against you), collection information, consumer statements and credit report inquiries.

Before 1970 there were about 150 regional credit bureaus that divided up the country, today there are really just 3 major bureaus:

(more…)