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?

New mortgage rules leave homebuyers confused

Financial Post- Under current mortgage-lending rules, buyers with a down payment of less than 20% of the purchase price must purchase mortgage insurance, with the most common source being Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corp. The new rules affect only customers that are required to purchase the insurance.

Under the new rules, all buyers requiring mortgage insurance will have to meet the "ability to pay" for a higher, more expensive five-year fixed-rate mortgage even if they choose a mortgage with a lower interest rate and a shorter term.

"It’s not just first-time homebuyers who are affected. It’s anyone who wants a variable mortgage rate now who doesn’t have one already, they now have to qualify at a higher interest rate. Some of them won’t qualify…

New mortgage rules leave homebuyers confused