Canadian Prime staying at 3% – maybe for half a year

Comment – this article exactly summarizes our thoughts for how things will play out:

Prime will stay at 3% for 6 months, mortgage rates will stay low as long as the stock market bounces all over the place and now is a great time to take advantage of the situation by redoing our mortgage or buying.

Bank of Canada holds key rate at 1%

OTTAWA — Interest rate hikes are on hold until at least the spring and maybe as long as late 2011, analysts say, as the Bank of Canada decided Tuesday to keep its policy rate unchanged amid weaker-than-anticipated growth, especially in the United States. Read More

TD mortgages get harder to get out of

Comment:

TD mortgages just became less appetizing as they are now very difficult to get out of. We do not use them much and now even less.

TD bank overhauls mortgage program

| Wednesday, 13 October 2010 TD bank is redesigning its mortgage program to make it easier for homeowners to tap into their equity and harder for them to switch to another lender when their mortgage renewal comes up. The main difference of the overhaul is a switch to collateral-charge mortgages, which are similar to lines of credit. The bank is encouraging employees to approve customers at 125 per cent of a home’s actual value with certain conditions, so the homeowner can easily borrow more money if the property value increases. Unlike traditional mortgages, collateral mortgages are difficult to transfer from one lender to another because they must be paid in full to be cancelled.