Canadians becoming more optimistic about buying a home: poll
[Canadian Press - March 4, 2009]
OTTAWA - A new Royal Bank survey suggests more Canadians are becoming optimistic about the housing market and contemplating home ownership. The RBC survey - conducted in early January by Ipsos Reid - found 65 per cent of the people polled thought it was a buyer's market. The survey also found 27 per cent of the respondents intended to buy a home over the next two years, up four points from last year's poll. The four-point increase is the biggest uptick recorded by the annual RBC home-buying intentions survey since 2001. The online survey is based on responses from 2,026 adult Canadians, from Jan. 6 to 9.
Time to rethink your mortgage: Refinancing to lock in low rates.
[Canada.com - March 9, 2009]
Have a fixed-rate mortgage at 4.5 per cent or higher? Then you should be refinancing, says Steve Moffitt, senior mortgage consultant with Equimac Mortgage Centre in Vancouver.
"There's never been a better opportunity historically, never, for doing a refinancing, '' he adds.
If only it were that simple. In fact, determining whether you should refinance or not depends largely on the penalty you will pay to get out of your current mortgage, and the amount of money you could save with a new one. Full Story
Good time to re-mortgage for those who can do it
[Canada.com - March 9, 2009]
Six months ago, before the credit crunch bit and risk became a cutting four-letter word, obtaining or renegotiating a mortgage was pretty much a formality. It's harder now. Financial institutions haven't necessarily changed their lending criteria for mortgages, but they do apply them more strictly. "Grey-area" borrowers who would have received the benefit of the doubt a year or two ago might need to apply several places now before finding a taker. The doors are still wide open, though, for clients with steady income, significant assets and/or a solid credit history. They are, in fact, the object of keen competition between lenders, and as such are in an excellent bargaining position in what is normally the biggest month of the year for mortgage transactions. Full Story
Breaking up with your mortgage
[Financial Post - March 7, 2009]
Excerpt from Article: "While not encouraging people to break their mortgages, the banks are acknowledging that some consumers who locked into higher rates can save money if they refinance at the new lower rates."
"It poses an obvious question for anyone who has locked into rates as high as 5.75% on a five-year fixed-rate mortgage: Should they break that mortgage? It probably does make sense to break it now, says Vince Gaetano" Full Story
[Canadian Press - March 4, 2009]OTTAWA - A new Royal Bank survey suggests more Canadians are becoming optimistic about the housing market and contemplating home ownership. The RBC survey - conducted in early January by Ipsos Reid - found 65 per cent of the people polled thought it was a buyer's market. The survey also found 27 per cent of the respondents intended to buy a home over the next two years, up four points from last year's poll. The four-point increase is the biggest uptick recorded by the annual RBC home-buying intentions survey since 2001. The online survey is based on responses from 2,026 adult Canadians, from Jan. 6 to 9.
Time to rethink your mortgage: Refinancing to lock in low rates.
[Canada.com - March 9, 2009]Have a fixed-rate mortgage at 4.5 per cent or higher? Then you should be refinancing, says Steve Moffitt, senior mortgage consultant with Equimac Mortgage Centre in Vancouver.
"There's never been a better opportunity historically, never, for doing a refinancing, '' he adds.
If only it were that simple. In fact, determining whether you should refinance or not depends largely on the penalty you will pay to get out of your current mortgage, and the amount of money you could save with a new one. Full Story
Good time to re-mortgage for those who can do it
[Canada.com - March 9, 2009]
Six months ago, before the credit crunch bit and risk became a cutting four-letter word, obtaining or renegotiating a mortgage was pretty much a formality. It's harder now. Financial institutions haven't necessarily changed their lending criteria for mortgages, but they do apply them more strictly. "Grey-area" borrowers who would have received the benefit of the doubt a year or two ago might need to apply several places now before finding a taker. The doors are still wide open, though, for clients with steady income, significant assets and/or a solid credit history. They are, in fact, the object of keen competition between lenders, and as such are in an excellent bargaining position in what is normally the biggest month of the year for mortgage transactions. Full Story
Breaking up with your mortgage
[Financial Post - March 7, 2009]Excerpt from Article: "While not encouraging people to break their mortgages, the banks are acknowledging that some consumers who locked into higher rates can save money if they refinance at the new lower rates."
"It poses an obvious question for anyone who has locked into rates as high as 5.75% on a five-year fixed-rate mortgage: Should they break that mortgage? It probably does make sense to break it now, says Vince Gaetano" Full Story
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