Mortgages: Nail the right term length the first time

Canadian Mortgage Trends editor Robert McLister kicks off his first in a weekly series of columns for the month for The Globe’s Home Buying sitewith this look on the best – and worst – mortgages terms out there. Finding a good mortgage rate online is a cinch. Anyone who has ever looked for rate comparison sites knows […]

Condos drive Canada’s housing start surge

Canada’s condo building frenzy showed no sign of abating last month, as housing starts surged to their highest level since 2007. While some analysts had predicted housing starts would weaken after a particularly strong March, starts in April rose to an annualized rate of 244,900, readily beating predictions of 204,000 made by most economists.   […]

Why we’ve locked in to a 10-year mortgage

Our new home in Scarborough is a detached, three-bedroom side-split that cost nearly $560,000.  We borrowed nearly $515,000 to buy it,  a sum  that makes me queasy. With the help of a mortgage broker, we chose a 30-year mortgage from ING Direct, and locked-in to a 10-year term at an interest rate of 3.99 per […]

CMHC changes may benefit alternative mortgage lenders

Mortgage companies competing against Canada’s big six banks offer an increasingly attractive opportunity for investors in the wake of new regulations governing Canada Mortgage Housing Corp., says Stephen Boland, analyst at GMP Securities. “We believe that the increased lending restrictions on the use of the CMHC will provide the alternative mortgage lenders with additional product […]

Brokers ain’t lying down for OSFI

The federal regulator threatening to overhaul the guidelines lenders and brokers work under is now in receipt of the channel’s most exhaustive response to those proposals — in short, a list of what ain’t broke and don’t need to be fixed, say brokers. “It is important to note the many positive features of the Canadian […]

Why smaller down payments can lead to better mortgage rates

It doesn’t make much sense, but a skimpy down payment on a home might actually get you a better mortgage rate in today’s market. Blame the government subsidy known as mortgage default insurance, which ultimately makes it less risky to lend money to someone who has only 5% down compared to someone with 20%. Consumers […]

Give me a break on my mortgage break fee!

By lesleyscorgieMetro Canada I recently sold my house and have decided to get a new mortgage through a mortgage broker rather than my bank. So, I met with my bank last week to discuss the transaction and learned that the cost to break my existing mortgage is nearly $5,000! Hogwash! For $5,000 I could take a […]

Pros and cons of a mortgage broker

When Chris Vale and his wife Keli Hines bought a home in Oshawa, they arranged a mortgage through an in-house firm their real estate agent’s company had. “We were told, ‘Here’s the rate and here’s what you pay,’ ” Vale recalls of the transaction, which took place several years ago. Then Vale met mortgage broker […]

Buying a house? Don’t go to the bank

I sold my property last week and I’m in a mad scramble to find a new home. With my wish list in hand and a pre-approved mortgage under my belt, I’m confident I’ll eventually find what I’m looking for. Much to the chagrin of my financial planner, a bank employee, I’ve decided to use an […]

Once again: Pay down your debts before rates rise

ROB CARRICK | Columnist profile | E-mail From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail The decade’s most ignorable piece of financial advice: Pay down your debts before interest rates rise. You’ve heard this warning a hundred times, you ignored it and rates held steady at historic lows. Now, the Bank of Canada is signalling that borrowing costs could rise if economic […]

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