Blog by Linda Linfoot

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CMHC Insurance Limits: A Wake-up Call for Lenders

February 2nd, 2012

CMHC Insurance Limits: A Wake-up Call for Lenders

Many have now seen this National Post article.

The gist of it: CMHC is approaching its $600 billion government-imposed limit on issuing mortgage default insurance. That’s happening largely because of lenders’ enormous appetite for something called portfolio insurance (a.k.a., “bulk insurance”).

No one fully grasps the repercussions yet, but ou ...

Mortgages: A Head Scratcher For Consumers

January 25th, 2012

Mortgages: A Head Scratcher For Consumers

Article written by Boris Bozic on the 24 Jan 2012

“We, the consumer, read about these mortgage issues in the media and try to understand but the complexity of these issues leave us somewhat baffled.”

The Bank of Canada decided to leave the overnight lending rate at 1%, and we’re all but assured that rates will mill remain at current levels for the rem ...

Hard Times Trigger changes in Insurance Choices

January 9th, 2012

Hard times trigger changes in insurance choices

Garry Marr  Jan 7, 2012 – 7:00 AM ET | Last Updated: Jan 4, 2012 1:51 PM ET

 It almost seems hard to justify in times of austerity — paying for something you may never use.

But that period of your life might be exactly when you need the most insurance because if you lose your job or source of income you are much more financially vulnerable to a ...

Prime Lending Rate Remains the same

December 8th, 2011
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.

Uncertainty around the global economic outlook has increased in the weeks since the Bank released its October Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Conditions in global financial markets have deteriora ...

Mortgage Penalty - Interest Rate Differentials

November 30th, 2011

Interest Rate Differentials (IRD)

 

Often a client needs an “idea” of how much their existing mortgage penalty might be before he decides to refinance or do an “early switch” with pre-payment penalty.

 If the penalty is based on a rate differential, here is a BASIC calculation to figure out a close amount…..

 Based on a:

$200,000 with 3 years remaining on a 5 year term of 5.70%....

…because t ...

Rate Hikes

October 31st, 2011
Don't be caught off-guard by rate hikes


If you have a variable rate mortgage, you're not alone. A new Bank of America/Merrill Lynch report reveals that 66% of Canadians now have mortgages that are floating with prime - up from the typical 30%

There's absolutely nothing wrong with having a variable rate mortgage, but the Merrill Lynch report reiterates that these mortgages would be ...

Increase in variable rate mortgages

September 23rd, 2011

Increase in variable rate mortgages – Sept 2011


The secret to the sudden increase in variable rate mortgages

Why could I get Prime minus .90 last week and today it is Prime minus .25?

 September 22, 2011 (Vancouver) – A great question, says the Mortgage Brokers Association of BC (MBABC), especially when fixed interest mortgage rates are remaining the same.  The quick answer?  As with many t ...

The Low Down on "Title Insurance"

September 12th, 2011
The lowdown on title insurance


Among the slew of insurance options that come with purchasing a new home, you've likely come across the term "title insurance". But what exactly is it - and is it worth forking over the extra money?

In a nutshell, "title" refers to your ownership of a property - so "title insurance" protects both you ( the owner) and the lender against loss resulting ...

Variable Mortgage Rate - Increase

August 25th, 2011

RBC has hiked its variable mortgage rates without waiting for the central bank to move first.

Canada's biggest bank is moving to cushion its bottom line as profit from mortgage lending is being squeezed from prolonged low interest rates and the increasing cost of funds for the bank.

"Due to global economic concerns, the funding costs for banks have been increasing," it said in a statement. "W ...

Bank of Canada - Prime Rate

July 19th, 2011

Bank of Canada maintains overnight rate target at 1 per cent

OTTAWA, July 19, 2011 /CNW/ - 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 expansion is proceeding broadly as projected in the Bank's April Monetary Policy Report (MP ...

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