What is the Overnight Rate?
Canadians watch the Bank of Canada’s interest rate like hawks, wondering what’s going to happen to the overnight rate and the prime rate. But aren’t these two the same thing? That is where it can get a little confusing. Historically the prime rate was the same as the overnight rate, so if you were referring…
Read moreVariable or Fixed: The Question Remains
With so many banks in Canada offering such hugely discounted rates, homeowners looking to refinance and home buyers looking for their dream home are once again faced with that age-old question: should we get a variable or fixed rate on our mortgage? Truthfully, this is a question people are going to be asking their entire…
Read moreCanadians Getting Better at Paying Off Credit
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and the government of Canada were so worried about household debt levels early last year that they imposed tighter rules on home loans including new mortgage insurance rules and tightening amounts loaned on secured lines of credit. That seemed to work for a little while, until later in 2011 when our…
Read moreHousing Market Set to Cool
Just a couple of days ago we talked about whether or not the mortgages of today would be underwater tomorrow; that is, if homeowners would find themselves in the position of having more home debt than home equity. In that post, we spoke about ways to try and save yourself from an underwater mortgage if…
Read moreShould Mortgage Rules be Even Tighter?
It was almost a full year ago when Jim Flaherty announced that the amortization period on insured mortgages would be reduced to 30 years instead of 35, while at the same time the federal government put tighter restrictions on borrowing through HELOCs and home equity loans. All of this in an effort to reduce Canadians’…
Read moreDo Women Get a Worse Deal on Their Mortgages?
“True, speaking in general terms, it’s probably safe to say that women usually enjoy shopping more than men. But that doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to their mortgages, and it could be costing them a bundle throughout the term of their mortgage. The information comes from a new study published by…
Read moreReport Shows ‘Sizable Minority’ of Canadians Could Not Afford a Rate Increase
So our interest rates right now are pretty low. They’ve been pretty low for some time, and they’re going to remain low for at least a little while longer. But what would happen if they were to increase, even just one percent? While many Canadians have been so busy trying to choose between a variable or fixed rate over the past few weeks, a report from the Canadian Association Accredited Mortgage Professionals looks at another question: what if Bank of Canada’s rate increased, even slightly? The results might be somewhat surprising.
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