1. The 30 year amortization is back The 2024 Federal Budget announced last week is bringing back 30 year amortizations for first time buyers using high ratio mortgages to buy a newly built home or condo, effective August 1, 2024 Given the specificity of the program – only first time buyers, only high ratio mortgages and only for newly built… Read More »
Rate Update and Analysis – April 2024
On Wednesday April 10th at their regular policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BoC) once more decided to keep their Policy Rate at 5 per cent. This means that lenders will hold their consumer Prime Rate steady at 7.20 per cent and there will be no changes to the payment amounts for variable rate mortgages or Lines of Credit. This… Read More »
Rate Update and Analysis – March 2024
On Wednesday March 6th at their regular policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BoC) once more decided to keep their Policy Rate at 5 per cent. This means that lenders will hold their consumer Prime Rate steady at 7.20 per cent and there will be no changes to the payment amounts for variable rate mortgages or Lines of Credit. This… Read More »
BC Government 2024 Budget – Mortgage and Property Highlights
The BC government released their 2024 Budget which introduced a number of housing-related initiatives, including changes to property transfer tax exemptions and a new provincial property flipping tax. Transfer Tax Exemptions The threshold for property transfer tax exemption for first-time home buyers has been increased for residential properties from $500,000 to $835,000 as of April 1, 2024. The new rules… Read More »
Rate Update and Analysis – January 2024
On Wednesday January 24th at their regular policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BoC) again decided to keep their Policy Rate at 5 per cent. This means that lenders will hold their consumer Prime Rate steady at 7.20 per cent and there will be no changes to the payment amounts for variable rate mortgages or Lines of Credit. This is… Read More »
Economic Forecast: Arguing the Case for a Rate Cut Coming this Summer
The Bank of Canada (BoC) will not offer any predictions about future rate cuts, for fear that investors and consumers will take any such talk as a green light to ramp up spending and work against the goal of reducing inflation. But that being said, here is our argument for why you might reasonably expect the BoC will start easing… Read More »
Rate Update and Analysis – December 2023
On Wednesday December 6th at their regular policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BoC) once more decided to keep their Policy Rate steady at 5 per cent. This means that most lenders will hold their consumer Prime Rate steady at 7.20 per cent and there will be no changes to the payment amounts for variable rate mortgages. It’s the third… Read More »
Economic Forecast: Upcoming Mortgage Renewals Will Slow the Economy
Last week, the CMHC published their fall 2023 edition of the Residential Mortgage Industry Reporthttps://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/blog/2023/rising-rates-homeowners-greatest-shocks-lie-ahead In it, the author Tania Bourassa-Ochoa draws from the CMHC’s national mortgage data to put specific figures to the coming wave of mortgage renewals in 2024 and 2025. In the first half of 2023 about 290,000 mortgages were renewed into the higher rates of today,… Read More »
Rate Update and Analysis – October 2023
On Wednesday October 25th at their regular policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BoC) again decided to keep their Policy Rate steady at 5 per cent. This means that most banks will hold their consumer Prime Rate steady at 7.20 per cent, and there will be no changes to the payment amounts for Variable rate mortgage holders. This is the… Read More »
Rate Update and Analysis – September 2023
On Wednesday, September 6th at their regular policy meeting, the Bank of Canada (BoC) decided to keep their Policy Rate steady at 5%. This means that most banks will hold their consumer Prime Rate steady at 7.20%, and there will be no changes to the payment amounts for Variable rate mortgage holders. This was expected by most banks and economists,… Read More »