The Bank of Canada held rates steady today, as expected, highlighting “trade policy developments” as an “important and growing source of uncertainty for the global and Canadian outlooks.” As the seventh round of NAFTA negotiations commenced in Mexico City, President Trump dropped a bombshell late last week, threatening to impose a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% tariff on imported aluminum for national security reasons. The news reverberated around the world, causing U.S. trading partners in Europe to announce potential retaliatory actions quickly. The European Union raised the stakes for Trump by aiming levies on the GOP heartland, saying…
-
Bank of Canada Concerned About Trade Risks
Categories: bank of canada , Dominion Lending Centres , Dr Shrry Cooper , housing , mortgages , Rates , Refinance
-
OSFI MORTGAGE CHANGES ARE COMING
Categories: Dominion Lending Centres , Mortgage , OSFI
As many of you may remember, this past October the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) issued a revision to Guideline B-20 . The changes will go into effect on January 1, 2018 but lenders are expecting to roll this rules out to their consumers between December 7th – 15th, and will require conventional mortgage applicants to qualify at the Bank of Canada’s five-year benchmark rate or the customer’s mortgage interest rate +2%, whichever is greater. OSFI is implementing these changes for all federally regulated financial institutions. What this means is that certain clients looking to purchase a home or refinance their current mortgage could…
-
WHY THEY’RE NOT REALLY IN THE MORTGAGE BUSINESS
Categories: Dominion Lending Centres , Mortgage Broker
Often, when we talk to you about mortgages, Mortgage Professionals will provide you a set of choices involving banks, credit unions and single service mortgage providers called a “Monoline” and a recommendation. Many times, if it’s a good fit, we recommend a Monoline, as your first option. It’s important to recognize the differences between the two, Monoline and Bank, because they are very different businesses and how they approach mortgages can have a very significant impact on you. Monoline mortgage companies are in the business of providing nothing but competitive mortgages to you, your family and friends. It’s important to stress that they…
-
THE IMPACT OF MORTGAGE RULE CHANGES
Categories: Dominion Lending Centres , Jencor , Mortgage
The mortgage rule changes that were passed by the Ministry of Finance in October 2016 are still having their effect one year later. Higher qualification requirements and new bank capital requirements have split the industry into two segments – those who qualify for mortgage insurance and those who don’t. Mortgages that qualify for mortgage insurance are basically new purchases for borrows that have less than 20% down and can debt-service at the Bank of Canada Benchmark rate (currently 4.89%). Those who don’t are basically everyone else – people with more than 20% down payment but need to qualify at the lower…
-
WHAT IS AN INTEREST RATE DIFFERENTIAL (IRD)? HOW DO YOU CALCULATE IT?
Categories: Dominion Lending Centres , Jencor , Rates
A mortgage in its simplest form is a contract. It has terms, conditions, rights and obligations for you and the lender. When you sign on the dotted line, you are agreeing to those terms for the length of time laid out in the contract. However, sometimes life throws us an unexpected event that brings around the need to make key decisions and changes. One of these changes, for whichever reason, might be needing/wanting to break your mortgage contract before the end of the term. Can you do that? What are the penalties? Let’s take a look! To answer the initial question…
-
Wages Growth Accelerates as Canada Adds Jobs For the 10th Straight Month
Categories: Dominion Lending Centres , Jencor , Jobs , Mortgage , Rates , Wage Growth
While the headline net jobs gain was a disappointing 10,000--well below the average monthly increase in the past year--the underlying data in this morning's StatsCanada release were quite robust. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.2 per cent as the acceleration in wage gains suggests that the economy is close to full employment. Average hourly pay gains hit 2.2 per cent year-over-year, the fastest pace since April 2016, mostly reflecting a long-awaited acceleration in wages in the past few months. The Bank of Canada has cited sluggish wage growth as evidence of slack in the economy. In a reversal of…
-
GETTING PRE-APPROVED FOR A MORTGAGE
Categories: Approved , Dominion Lending Centres , Jencor , Mortgage , Pre-Approval
You’ve been squirreling away your bonus cheques, savings and reducing the amount of times you visit Starbucks so you can finally get into your own home to build solid equity for your future. Now that you know what you want and what you can afford, it’s time to visit your local Dominion Lending Centres mortgage specialist to get yourself pre-approved for a mortgage. Note, we did not say go to your bank to get pre-approved! A mortgage broker works with banks (including yours), credit unions and other lending institutions to help find you the best rate on your mortgage. Since they work with…
-
SAVING FOR A DOWN PAYMENT
Categories: Dominion Lending Centres , Down Payment , Mortgage , Mortgage Broker , TFSA
What prevents many potential homeowners from buying a home is the lack of a down payment. Many first-time home buyers are receiving down payment gifts from family. Unfortunately, many are not in this position and need to plan to save their own down payment. When you can visualize the benefits of owning your own home and it becomes your number one desire, most of us can save that down payment. Every time you feel like spending money that is not a need and takes away from you down payment, consider what you could be giving up, your home. I recently did a mortgage for a…