Dominion Lending Centres Wins Big at CMP Canadian Mortgage Awards

Dominion Lending Centres dominated the CMP Canadian Mortgage Awards on Friday, April 23rd at Toronto's Liberty Grand – walking away with five prestigious national awards!

Dominion Lending Centres took home top prizes for Mortgage Brokerage of the Year, Best Branding and Best Advertising. Meanwhile, one of our veteran broker/owners, Gary Meger, Neighbourhood Dominion Lending Centres in Barrie, ON, won Mortgage Broker of the Year. Finally, the Business Development Manager for our extensive white label Dominion Mortgage line of products, Cynthia Kramer, won Lender BDM of the Year!

“We are absolutely honoured that our industry peers and partners, as well as an esteemed panel of judges recognized Dominion Lending Centres with these incredible awards,” says Gary Mauris, President of Dominion Lending Centres.

“We will continue to provide our more than 1,700 brokers and agents across the country with value-added tools and services to ensure we remain on top, and are the company of choice for Canadian mortgage consumers,” Mauris adds.

This is the second consecutive year Dominion Lending Centres has captured the Best Branding award. Dominion Lending Centres is the only mortgage brokerage in Canada that has an advertising fund to ensure we gain access to households across the country via advertising – our main advertising vehicle being Television.

If you haven't yet noticed an upsurge in Dominion Lending Centres TV commercials, you soon will! This month and next, we have an increased presence across the country on News and Sports programming, culminating in an astounding 12.2 Million additional viewer impressions in the key demographic of consumers between the ages of 25 and 54! This is on top of the more than 240 Million viewer impressions we will make this year.

Earlier this month, six new Dominion Lending Centres commercials began airing across Canada. The key message follows a theme that interest rates are still near historic lows, and encourages viewers to contact a Dominion Lending Centres mortgage professional through our main website – www.DominionLending.ca – when purchasing a new home, or renewing or refinancing an existing mortgage.

Canada's major banks reduce mortgage rates again

Interest rates have been reduced again by 1/10th of a percentage point by each of Canada's big five banks. The new lower interest rates took effect yesterday.


The posted five-year closed mortgage rate is now 5.49 per cent annually with Royal Bank of Canada leading the way and followed by Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, CIBC and TD Bank.

This is the second time major banks have lowered their rates this month, and follows the report from the Canadian Real Estate Association that home sales were down 6.8 per cent in July from the previous month.

 To keep informed of the latest interest rates, you can sign up for my Rate Minder email - click here - or you can also visit my website - Richmond Hill Mortgages -  to check the latest mortgages rates and use the mortgage calculators.

Bank of Canada Raises Benchmark Rate

After more than a year at a record low level, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney raised the benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2007 by one-quarter percentage point to 0.5 per cent. This is the first time since 2007 that that rate has increased and the Bank of Canada is the first in the Group of Seven to do so since the financial crisis and recession began in 2008.

In a statement Carney emphasized that the increase should not be interpreted as just the first of more to come.

"This decision still leaves considerable monetary stimulus in place, consistent with achieving the 2 per cent inflation target in light of the significant excess supply in Canada, the strength of domestic spending and the uneven global recovery,'' the central bank said. ``Given the considerable uncertainty surrounding the outlook, any further reduction of monetary stimulus would have to be weighed carefully against domestic and global economic developments.''
[Source - mortgagebrokernews]

Watch a discussion on the rate increase from CBC News - Click Here.

TD led the way raising Prime to 2.5% with CIBC and RBC shortly afterwards. Many other banks and mortgage lenders have also followed with a .25% increase in the prime rate.

New report indicating that home prices will stabilize

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) released a new report indicating that home prices will stabilize, and remain stable for some time.

This means that Canadian homeowners are unlikely to experience a US-style decline in the value of their homes.

“The relationship between average price and income has recently been cited as portending a US-style correction in Canadian home prices,” said Gregory Klump, Chief Economist, CREA. “However, such warnings ignore the longer-term relationship between prices and income, and disregard typical Canadian housing market cycle dynamics.”

Click here to read the CREA report.

Home prices in Canada are overvalued by 14%

Home prices in Canada are overvalued by 14%, while affordability is eroding dramatically in some parts of the country, say two new reports on the state of the housing market. 

“When it comes to prices, by almost any measure, Canadian home prices are overshooting their fair value,” CIBC Senior Economist Benjamin Tal said in a report Tuesday. “The pace of appreciation has been quicker than justified by housing market fundamentals.”

The bank says the average price of a home has risen by almost 23% since the cyclical low of January 2009, and about 7% above recession levels.

As a result, at least 1.5 million homes across Canada are overvalued, particularly in Western Canada, and a price drop of 5% to 10% over the next 12 months would not be unlikely, said Tal. 

Click here to read the full article in The Star.

Fixed or float? Combination mortgages increasing in popularity: RBC poll

The popularity of combination mortgages – which offer both fixed and floating rate segments – is on the rise, according to RBC’s 17th Annual Homeowners Survey. 

In fact, 40% of Canadians who are likely to purchase a home within the next two years plan to take out a combination mortgage, compared to 32% in 2009.

The surging popularity of combination mortgages indicates that Canadians are trying to maximize low interest rates while at the same time retaining the security of a fixed mortgage. The poll also revealed a marked gender split with more women (46%) than men (35%) preferring a combination mortgage.

“Although interest rates are expected to rise, our study shows that not all Canadians intend to automatically opt for a fixed mortgage with a longer term,” said Marcia Moffat, Head, Home Equity Financing, RBC Royal Bank. “As consumers begin to learn about the benefits of mortgage diversification, we’re seeing more homebuyers gain a better comfort level with adding floating-rate mortgage options.”

While combination mortgages are gaining in popularity, fixed-rate mortgages continue to be the most common choice for potential buyers and are preferred by 44% of Canadians likely to buy a home within the next two years. Atlantic Canadians are most likely (54%) to opt for a fixed rate, with Ontarians (41%) least likely to do so.

Click here for more details on the RBC study.

86% of real estate professionals said they worry.

Realtors polled in a recent cross-Canada survey indicated that the country’s real estate market is both highly competitive and provides the necessary safeguards to protect consumers. 

 

Eighty-six percent of real estate professionals said they worry that severe deregulation in the real estate industry would erode standards of customer service for Canadians who are buying or selling a home.

 

According to the online poll of 1,726 realtors by Royal LePage Real Estate Services, the proposed changes to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) will do little to improve an already competitive industry.

 

Eighty-six percent of agents surveyed said they are “concerned that the push to foster increased competition in the industry will result in lower customer service standards.” When asked about the state of the current marketplace, 76% of respondents said the industry is “highly competitive.” 

 

Click here to read more from the Royal LePage survey.

 

Neither recession, global uncertainty nor growing joblessness appears to have stayed Canadians’ appetite for spending money they don’t have.

 

A new report by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada shows that household debt in the country kept rising through the recession and peaked in December at $1.41 trillion.

 

That’s $41,740 on average per Canadian, or debt to income ratio of 144%, which is the worst among 20 advanced countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

 

“This report is another indication of Canadians’ readiness to consume today and pay later,” said association President Anthony Ariganello. “The concern is do they understand the full cost of paying later?”

 

The Bank of Canada has also voiced similar concerns, with Governor Mark Carney having repeatedly advised Canadians to ensure they will be able to meet their mortgage commitments once rates increase. Ottawa has put that cautionary principle into effect by stiffening the means test chartered banks must apply when issuing open-ended mortgages.

 

Most Canadians don’t yet share that concern. The accountants’ survey found that almost 60% of Canadians whose debt had increased still felt they could manage it or take on more obligations.

 

Click here to read more from CBC.