TD bank announced today that it will be raising fixed term mortgages on Tuesday April 5^th.  Rates are expected to increase by .35% with the 5 year posted rate (used for qualifying 1 to 4 year fixed and variable mortgages) increasing to 5.69%.  So far no other lender has announced a rate increase however a lender never increases rates alone so expect all lenders to follow suit.
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After a busy January and February mortgage financing markets have cooled off.  With Spring now on our door step this should help to get the markets going again.

The next Bank of Canada meeting is in May.  The market is not expecting a rate increase.  After that the next meeting will be in July.

With the Canadian dollar riding high against the US dollar this will put pressure on Bank of Canada/Government to keep interest rates low.

Rule of thumb in Canada is that a borrower needs a minimum of 5% down payment to purchase a home and that the borrower can only borrow 95% of the purchase price of the home.  This is true, however there is a program available where the borrower can receive 5% cash back along with the 95% mortgage from the lender to  cover the 5% down payment.  Not all lenders offer this program so that is why working with a Mortgage Broker is essential for all your mortgage financing needs.  The program works like this.
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Canada’s annual inflation rate fell slightly in February, giving the Bank of Canada room to keep interest rates low over the next few months, economists say.

Statistics Canada said Friday its consumer price index edged down one-tenth of a point to 2.2 per cent in February, with rising energy and gas prices keeping inflation just above the Bank of Canada’s ideal two per cent target.
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Mortgage fixed rates edged lower yesterday with the averaging 5 year fixed dropping from 4.04% to 3.94%.  With the variable mortgage holding steady at 2.30%, this is good news for home buyers entering the Spring real estate market.

Buying a home is a very emotional process, and allowing those emotions to get the best of you can cause you to make any number of mistakes.

Since buying a home has many far-reaching implications, from where you will live to how hard it will be to make ends meet, it’s important to keep your emotions in check and make the most rational decision possible.
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Both fixed and variable rates are holding steady.  5 year fixed averaging 4.05% and 5 year variable averaging 2.25%.

The Bank of Canada met last week and left the variable/prime rate unchanged.

Report form CMHC

Housing starts will be in the range of 157,300 to 192,900 units in 2011, with a point forecast of 177,600 units. In 2012, housing starts will be in the range of 154,600 to 211,200 units, with a point forecast of 183,800 units.
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