Robert McLister: Bank of Canada expected to bring out the chainsaw and slash rates on Wednesday
Despite that outlook, only one in ten mortgage shoppers chose a variable rate in August, the latest month for which data is available. With the September cut adding to this month’s cut, expect more folks to jump on that bandwagon, betting on a steady decline in the prime rate.
On the fixed-rate circuit, three-year mortgages in the mid-four per cent range are still the hottest commodity.
With all the rate cuts priced in, short-term fixed rates would normally be appealling in this environment, but lenders are being stingy.
Take the one-year fixed for instance. The leading advertised rate was 6.79 per cent (uninsured) a year ago; now it’s 5.99 per cent, only 80 basis points less. Compare that to the 204-basis-point plunge in one-year yields from the October 2023 high.
Clearly, banks are in no mood to give deals to borrowers who commit for only 12 months.
Mortgage rates
The rates displayed below are updated by the end of each day and are sourced from the Canadian Mortgage Rate Survey produced by MortgageLogic.news. Postmedia and Imaginative. Online Inc., parent of MortgageLogic.news, are compensated by certain mortgage providers when you click on their links in the charts.