Canadian banks boost mortgages
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: Bank Of Canada, Canada Banks, Canadian Banks, Canadian Mortgages, Canadians, Fixed Rate Mortgage, Fixed Rate Mortgages, Globe And Mail, Interest Rate, Interest Rates, Monday Morning, Mortgage Rates, Percentage Points, Reminder, Royal Bank Of Canada, Ry, Signs, Variable Rate Mortgages
The Globe and Mail- Two of Canada’s largest banks are raising rates on some fixed-rate mortgages, a reminder that mortgage rates can go up before the central bank’s key interest rate does.
The move comes as many Canadians with variable-rate mortgages have been anxiously watching for signs of exactly when the Bank of Canada will begin hiking interest rates, in a bid to wait and lock into a fixed-rate mortgage at what they hope will be the ideal time.
Royal Bank of Canada (RY-T59.24-0.58-0.97%) , the country’s largest bank, said Monday morning that it is raising the rate on three-year closed fixed-rate mortgage by 0.20 percentage points to 4.35 per cent. The four-year closed rate will increase by 0.40 to 5.34 per cent, and the five-year closed rate will rise by 0.60 percentage points to 5.85 per cent.
Canadian banks boost mortgages – The Globe and Mail
Ottawa changes GST rules, setting up finance battle
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: 1 Billion, Amendments, Car Buyer, Car Dealer, Commissions, Consultations, Drawing Board, Finance Department, Globe And Mail, Globe Mail, Goods And Services Tax, Gst Rules, Insurance Advisers, Insurance Brokers, Investment Companies, Mortgage Brokers, Mutual Fund Dealers, Ottawa, Tax Exemption, Telemarketers
Globe and Mail- Ottawa has quietly moved to tax some financial services, setting up a fight the sector says will cost more than $1-billion a year.
The government has changed the rules on a goods and services tax exemption in a way that the industry says applies GST for the first time to a number of financial services offered by, for example, mortgage brokers and insurance advisers. The industry says the costs will be passed on to consumers. Banks, insurers, mortgage and insurance brokers, and investment companies are urging the Finance Department to retract its amendments and hold broad consultations before going back to the drawing board.
At issue is the definition of “financial service” in the tax laws. Such services are generally exempt from GST but Ottawa has changed the definition so that many activities that “facilitate” or “prepare” financial services are now subject to tax. The industry says Ottawa hasn’t clarified how broadly the rules will apply but it appears that many services offered by brokers and advisers are newly taxable, including, for example, trailer commissions paid to mutual fund dealers, commissions paid to a car dealer to arrange credit for a car buyer, and some work telemarketers do for insurers…
Ottawa changes GST rules, setting up finance battle – The Globe and Mail
Canadians fret over mortgage rates, prices
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: Bank Of Canada, Canadians, Current Rates, Globe And Mail, Housing Market, Interest Rates, Ipsos Reid, Lump Sum Payment, Mortgage Holders, Mortgage Rates, Principal Mortgage, Royal Bank Of Canada, Survey, Surveys, Three Quarters, Two Thirds
The Globe and Mail- More Canadians are looking to enter the housing market ahead of higher interest rates and home prices that are expected to arrive later this year, two surveys showed Wednesday.
More than two-thirds of Canadians expect mortgage rates to rise over the next year, with about the same number of mortgage holders concerned about higher rates, a Royal Bank of Canada annual homeownership survey showed.
But the survey, conducted by Ipsos Reid, also showed three-quarters of homeowners believe preparation is key to handling upcoming changes such as higher mortgage rates.
The survey showed six in 10 mortgage holders say they have taken advantage of current low rates to pay off more principal.
It also revealed that 18 per cent of homeowners say they have made a lump sum payment on their mortgage and 16 per cent have doubled up payments to reduce the principal…
Canadians fret over mortgage rates, prices – The Globe and Mail
Real-estate markets should become ‘more subdued’ after hot spring
Filed Under Main Content · Tagged: Economics, Economist, Economy, Hot Spring, Job Creation, Last Decade, Low Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, News Headlines, Price Appreciation, Rsquo, S Real Estate, Sense Of Urgency, Vancouver Canada, Vancouver Sun, Wage Increases
Vancouver Sun- Canada’s real estate markets should remain heated through the spring, fuelled by generationally low mortgage rates, before settling into “more subdued” conditions as those rates rise, says the latest forecast from Scotia Economics.
Scotia Economics senior economist Adrienne Warren said the last decade saw “the strongest decade of real price appreciation in at least 50 years,” which will require an extended period for the economy to catch up with job creation and wage increases.
“If people were looking back at the last decade thinking that was normal, well it wasn’t normal, it was an exceptional decade,” Warren said in an interview.
Right now, she said, buyers are “bombarded by news headlines saying, and I think they’re correct,” that rates have hit bottom and will go higher, which is “adding a sense of urgency” to the market…
Real-estate markets should become ‘more subdued’ after hot spring
