Trivia question: What is the interest rate you’re paying on your various debts? Interest rates seem vitally important in a week in which the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark lending rate for the first time in seven years, but they’re not what you should be focusing on as you prepare for the possibility of […]

New record: $2,090 a month is average cost of one-bedroom rental in Vancouver For more than a year, Vancouver has taken top spot for the most expensive city to rent in Canada and now the city of glass has broken another record. In July, the average price of rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver […]

Last week Bank of Canada (BoC) Governor Poloz eliminated any doubt about the BoC’s near-term plans. During an interview on CNBC he said that the two 0.25% overnight-rate cuts that the Bank made in 2015 in response to the oil-price shock have “done their job” and he expressed confidence that our economy’s “surprisingly” strong first-quarter […]

The Bank of Canada is raising its target for the overnight rate to 3/4 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 per cent and the deposit rate is 1/2 per cent. Recent data have bolstered the Bank’s confidence in its outlook for above-potential growth and the absorption of excess capacity in the economy. The […]

For Immediate release July 12, 2017 Vancouver, B.C. – For the first time in seven years, the Bank of Canada announced today that it was hiking its key overnight rate by a quarter percentage point (25 basis points) bringing it to 0.75 percent, as the economy has staged a broadly based economic expansion this year. […]

The average person if stopped on the street and asked; Are today’s low interest rates driving up house prices? Would likely say ‘yes’. They would be wrong. We can let their lack of understanding pass, after all we can agree that math mostly sucks. However to ask a Realtor, Banker, or your Mortgage Broker this […]

OSFI Proposes Tighter Mortgage Underwriting Standards Exactly one year after OSFI said it would review its B-20 guidelines and scrutinize underwriting standards further, the banking regulator made good on that promise. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) released various proposals on Thursday to further tighten mortgage underwriting standards at federally regulated lenders. The biggest change […]

Click Here to Hear Angela Calla speak on the impending interest rate hike A Vancouver mortgage broker is advising homeowners to anticipate a change in their monthly payments in the wake of a possible Bank of Canada interest rate hike next week. Angela Calla said the average Canadian will have to pay about $50 more per […]

Things to consider prior to making a prepayment Paying down your mortgage is a smart step that’s always encouraged. We recommend you first consider the following for your financial well-being as making a lump-sum pre-payment on a mortgage is one sided. Once you’ve made the payment, there are only two ways to get the money […]

Five points to consider before you list your home. There are several things to consider before you take the plunge and put your home up for sale. This might sound obvious, but the first step is to call your mortgage broker, not your lender directly or your realtor. You don’t have to look long for […]