Bank of Australia surprises with rate rise  Wayne Cole, Reuters  SYDNEY – Australia’s central bank surprised markets by raising its key cash rate to a two-year high of 4.75% on Tuesday, saying a modest tightening was needed as a pre-emptive strike against inflation. The local dollar shot a cent higher after the Reserve Bank of […]

Homebuyer Tradeoffs: What Will You Have To Sacrifice? When you’re buying a home, whether it’s your first home or your third, you want it to be perfect. Your home affects every aspect of your life, from your financial stability to things you do in your free time to the people you spend time with. It’s […]

An oft-cited 2001 study by York University finance professor Moshe Milevsky reveals that from 1950 to 2000, a variable-rate mortgage would have beaten out a fixed-rate mortgage almost 90 per cent of the time. But with interest rates at incredibly low levels, many commentators are expecting rising rates from here on in. Does that mean […]

Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1 per cent OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 1/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 3/4 per cent. The global economic recovery is […]

Courtesy of The Globe and Mail Mark Carney must feel like a parent trying to instill wise spending habits in a carefree kid heading off to university: all he can do is give his best advice and hope it sinks in. That’s a rough approximation of the tricky position the Bank of Canada governor finds […]

Mortgage Shopping?   HERE’S SOME IMPORTANT TIPS ON HOW TO DO IT RIGHT!   First: Ensure you’re working with an Accredited Mortgage Professional that understands the business of Mortgages. This is likely the largest financial transaction of your life and it’s too important to put into the hands of someone that cannot advise you properly […]

Kristine Owram, The Canadian PressThe Canadian Press, 2010 As the loonie flirts with parity for the second time this year, Canadians are becoming increasingly familiar with the effects of a higher dollar and are finding creative ways to take advantage of it. The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.18 of a cent at 99.7 cents US […]

TD Bank (TD-T74.940.100.13%) is revamping its mortgage program, making it easier for homeowners to tap into their equity and harder for them to switch to another lender when their mortgages come up for renewal. At the heart of the overhaul is a switch to collateral-charge mortgages, which are similar to lines of credit. The bank […]

Securing a rate hold is like having insurance on your mortgage rate – you no longer have to worry about mortgage rates increasing while you find your new home over the next 90-120 days. And if rates drop within that same period, so too will your pre-approved rate.   For instance, if you obtain a […]

Reuters MBA Mortgage Applications — The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. declined for a fifth straight week, led by a drop in refinancing despite mortgage rates dropping to a record low. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index decreased 0.2% for the week ended Oct. 1. Refinancing fell to an eight-week low, while purchases increased […]