With low interest rates, is it time to reconsider your mortgage?

Vancouver Sun- With mortgage rates low and more likely to go up than down, some borrowers may want to think long and hard about whether they want a long and hard — fixed, that is — mortgage rate.

The first question is whether to go fixed or variable when borrowing to buy a home. Statistics show that 88 per cent of the time, a variable mortgage is cheaper than a fixed-rate mortgage, said Feisal Panjwani, senior mortgage consultant with Invis-Feisal & Associates Mortgage Consulting in Cloverdale. But the problem with a variable rate is that it is just that: It changes over the life of the mortgage…

With low interest rates, is it time to reconsider your mortgage?

Mortgage rates on the rise again

Financial Post- A new survey says more than four out of five home buyers feel comfortable with their debt, but another hike in interest rates might get Canadians squirming next time they’re polled.

Canada and Mortgage and Housing Corp. surveyed 2,503 mortgage consumers between Feb. 11 and Feb. 28 and found 81% were comfortable with their current debt levels. However, the survey was done before three successive hikes in interest rates that have pushed the five-year, fixed-rate, closed mortgage from 5.25% to 6.25% in less than a month.

"Rates were low throughout most of the time [of the survey]," said Pierre Serré, CMHC vice-president of insurance products and business development, adding it was unclear whether the 81% figure might fall because of the hike…

Mortgage rates on the rise again

Royal Bank hikes mortgage rates again

Financial Post- Royal Bank of Canada is leading the charge to higher mortgage rates, boosting the cost to new homebuyers for the third time in less than a month.

The country’s biggest bank said Monday it is lifting the rate on most mortgages by 15 basis points.

After hikes of 60 basis points and 25 basis points respectively, Monday’s hike brings the rate on Royal’s five-year closed fixed-rate mortgage to 6.25%.

When Royal hiked rates in late March and earlier this month, the other big banks followed suit soon after.

The banks say they are raising mortgage rates because their own cost of funding is going up ahead of expected rate increases from the Bank of Canada and U.S. Federal Reserve this summer…

Royal Bank hikes mortgage rates again

Should you be concerned about new mortgage rules?

The Gazette- As of April 19, home-buyers will have to meet tougher standards to get a mortgage. Among the new rules is a requirement that borrowers be able to afford a five-year, fixed-rate mortgage,

even if they plan to stay short and variable. It will also be tougher for speculators to jump into the market as they’ll now have to make a 20% down payment on any property they don’t live in.

For those of us who simply own a home as principal residence the new rules don’t mean much. The real question is whether today’s tempting variable-rate mortgages offer a good value. The short answer is, they aren’t. After the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its discount rate a quarter point in mid-February, the writing is on the wall: Interest rates are about to rise, so you better lock in to a fixed term quickly, ideally before July…

Should you be concerned about new mortgage rules?

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