When will the Bank of Canada raise interest rates and by how much?

General Angela Calla 13 Apr

Posted to FP: April 12, 2010, Jonathan Ratner With most agreeing that a rate hike from the Bank of Canada is imminent, the talk now turns to the exact timing and extent of the central bank’s policy changes. Governor Mark Carney made a “conditional” promise to keep the benchmark interest rate at 0.25% through the […]

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Variable Rates (almost) always win

General Angela Calla 6 Apr

There is a small loophole in the new federal mortgage rules that could make it easier for the banks to lend out money to first-time buyers. The federal government announced last month new requirements for anyone borrowing money for a house and needing mortgage insurance. If you have less than a 20% down payment and […]

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Variable rates, are they as good as they look?

General Angela Calla 6 Apr

Should you lock in your mortgage or let it float with a variable rate? Toronto-Based wealth manager Scott Tomenson makes the case for variable. ARE VARIABLE MORTGAGES AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK? Q: My fiance and I have just bought our first home and we are going in circles about what is the best mortgage […]

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Fron Page Globe and Mail…The Days of record low rates are numbered

General Angela Calla 22 Mar

Jeremy Torobin Ottawa — From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Mar. 19, 2010 10:21PM EDT Last updated on Monday, Mar. 22, 2010 6:16AM EDT The clock is ticking on Canada’s record-low borrowing costs, as inflation continues to move at a faster rate than the central bank had expected. The hot reading on inflation […]

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When it comes to mortgage details, most people just ‘zone out’

General Angela Calla 18 Mar

James Pasternak, Financial Post  It is a legal document that stretches about 30 pages and runs about 10,000 words. Its execution takes no more than a couple minutes and when the ink dries on the signature lines, more times than not it is never read and gets slipped into a file folder, largely forgotten. But […]

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Flaherty not flinching as loonie nears parity

General Angela Calla 17 Mar

Nicolas Van Praet, Financial Post Montreal — The era of fearing Canada’s high-flying loonie might finally be passed. Trading near US98.6¢, the dollar is now the closest it’s been to one-on-one status with the U.S. greenback since July 2008. And Jim Flaherty, Canada’s finance minister isn’t flinching. “We see where it’s at now and it’s […]

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Clarification on Qualifying Interest Rates

General Angela Calla 11 Mar

Clarification on Qualifying Interest Rate   On February 16th, the government announced new parameters regarding the application of the government guarantee supporting the mortgage insurance industry, but did not stipulate the rules around qualifying interest rates. Effective April 19th, 2010, the qualifying interest rate used to assess borrower eligibility will change only for loans with […]

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