The Bank of Canada raised its overnight lending rate by 0.25%. This will lead all the major banks to raise their Prime Rate to 3.00% by the end of the week. The announcement indicated that the Bank thinks that economic growth will be difficult given the high unemployment in the USA and other economic factors in Europe and other mature economies, but that the current rate is historically very low and could be increased without much of an impact on the economy. If the Bank raises their ...
GDP grew by 0.5% in the second quarter, after increasing by 1.4% in the first quarter. This is well below the expected 2.5% by many analysts. It is no wonder: although the unemployment rate has dropped it seems that things aren’t chugging along as robustly as some may think. The USA is still in turmoil from an economic standpoint, and our exports are suffering. Hopefully our manufacturers are using the high Loonie to purchase equipment to make them more efficient. While some people ...
Fixed Rates are coming down. Most lenders with give clients a 120 day rate hold of 4.19% for a 5 year fixed rate term, and some are giving lower rates depending on the size of mortgage, closing date, and limited features (like only being able to pay monthly). We will probably see 5 year fixed rates settle in the high 3 per cent range as more and more economists and consumers predict the US is going to slip into another recession or suffer deflation. The perplexing picture in all this ...
I like it when people get off the fence, particularly when the people getting off the fence are economists. In The Milken Report (www.milkeninstitute.org) Ross DeVol states that the US economy will add approximately 2 million jobs in 2010 and 3 million jobs in 2011, and that GDP will grow by 3.5% in 2010 and 3.7% in 2011. He continues by stating that he believes inflation will remain low, and that the bulk of the improvement in employment and GDP will be spurred on by the Fed keeping ...
The Bank of Canada raised its overnight lending rate by 0.25% on Tuesday this week. Surveys showed that economists were split in their projections of whether the Bank would raise rates or note, citing a variety of reasons either way. We are likely to see one more rate hike before the end of the year (maybe two) by the Bank, which would send the Prime Rate to 3.00%. The current Prime Rate is 2.75%, and still abnormally (and historically) low. Unemployment was 7.9% ...
It looks like all the government stimulus hasn’t driven up inflation, as some had feared it might. That’s probably because we are still sitting at an unemployment rate over 8%. The Total Consumer Price Index showed gains of 1.4% in May. When excluding energy the increase was just 1%. So what does this mean for Interest Rates? The result of low inflation is that there is little need to increase short term rates, such as the Prime Rate, and there will be less pressure ...
Greece normally doesn’t affect us. Over the past week the “crisis” in Greece has had an unlikely benefit for Canadians looking to buy homes: It has driven down the bond yields which is leading to lower fixed mortgage rates. You can expect fixed mortgage rates to fall by June 1st. Call us if you would like more information about how global events can impact rates! Warm regards, Chris -- Christopher Bisson The Mortgage Centre 519-763-3900 ...
I love roller coaster rides. Like the one we are on right now, with rates moving up and down at every turn, or every other week when good or bad news comes out. Given most of the Government spending related to keeping our economy moving is hitting this spring we will see better than average figures on the employment side. When the money is spent we will likely see those figures soften, making inflation less of a concern, and leaving the door open for lower fixed rates. If you are ...
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