RateSupermarket.ca’s Expert Mortgage Panel Believes Fixed and Variable Mortgage Rates Will Remain Level in February

TORONTO, Feb 7, 2012… Recent fluctuations in variable and fixed mortgage rates have left Canadian consumers confused about future mortgage trends.  The good news is that February should be less volatile, with RateSupermarket.ca‘s Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel anticipating both fixed and variable mortgage rates will remain level during the month.

At the end of last year lenders reduced their discounts to prime which increased variable rate mortgages due to tightening margins. Last month they dropped fixed mortgage rates to record lows to kick off 2012 and develop their sales pipelines for the new year.  So what’s in store for this month?

Fixed mortgage rates: Unchanged

The big banks recently dropped their best mortgage rates for fixed 4 and 5 year terms to record lows, causing a frenzy in the market.  Hyper competition to lock down market share early in the year has started to cool with most of the rate specials ending. Although, spreads between bond yields and current fixed rates still remain attractive (technically lenders have room to drop fixed rates even more!).

However, lenders are likely to practice caution given the continued uncertainty in the global economy and the escalating political and media pressure about low rates fuelling a housing bubble.  As a result, our Panel members anticipate fixed mortgage rates will remain unchanged in the short term.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

The next Bank of Canada rate announcement will take place on March 8, 2012.  Most experts believe they will hold interest rates steady again, leaving variable mortgage rates unchanged. Given the Federal Bank’s recent announcement that it will keep US interest rates low into 2014, coupled with very weak recent Canadian economic data, our Panel members think any alternative action from the Bank of Canada is unlikely.

To read all the detailed commentary from our Panel Members, please visit: http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The Panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

• Mark Kocaurek, Senior Vice President, Treasury & Lending (Chief Lending Officer) of ING DIRECT Canada
• Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
• Wayne Spinney, Mortgage Agent, Centum Mortgage Professionals
• Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President, Verico True North Mortgage
• Elisseos Iriotakis, President, Safebridge Financial Group

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)

RateSupermarket.ca is the largest impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada. Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best mortgage rates. Their new Mortgage Tool App for the iPhone also allows house hunters to compare mortgage rates using their Smartphone. Over 1.5M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

RateSupermarket.ca’s Expert Panel Believes Fixed Mortgage Rates Will Decrease as Competition Heats Up.

TORONTO, Jan 9, 2012… Canadian consumers could see lower fixed mortgage rates this month as competition heats up and lenders look to build their mortgage pipeline for the year, says RateSupermarket.ca’s Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel for January 2012.

Lenders are eager to get a good start to the new year and build up their fixed mortgage rate client base, which means fixed rates could decrease as competition picks up. Variable mortgage rates, on the other hand, are expected to remain level.

Fixed mortgage rates: Down

Given the forecast for slow growth in 2012 and the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis, Canadian bond yields are expected to stay where they are; which is a strong indication that fixed mortgage rates should remain unchanged in the short term.

However, our panel of mortgage experts is not ruling out a slight reduction in fixed mortgage rates as lenders get a jump start on the year and build their pipeline for 2012.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

The next Bank of Canada interest rate announcement will take place on January 17th, 2012.   Our panel of mortgage experts is not expecting any change in the key overnight lending rate for at least the next 6 months due to ongoing turmoil in the global economy.  It is also unlikely that lenders will increase or decrease their discounts to prime rates in the short term.  As a result, Canadian consumers can expect variable mortgage rates to remain where they are.

To read all the detailed commentary from our Panel Members, please visit:

http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The Panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

• Mark Kocaurek, Senior Vice President, Treasury & Lending (Chief Lending Officer) of ING DIRECT Canada
• Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
• Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage
• Elisseos Iriotakis, President, Safebridge Financial Group
• Wayne Spinney, Mortgage Agent, Centum Mortgage Professionals

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)

RateSupermarket.ca is the largest impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best mortgage rates.  Their new Mortgage Tool App for the iPhone also allows house hunters to compare mortgage rates using their Smartphone. Over 1.5M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

RateSupermarket.ca’s Expert Panel Expects Lower Fixed Mortgage Rates

TORONTO, Oct 6, 2011… A great shift is happening in the mortgage market as lenders are enticing Canadian consumers to deeply discounted fixed mortgage rates and away from variable mortgages.  Low bond yields continue to provide lenders with room to manoeuvre and offer better pricing on fixed products, says RateSupermarket.ca’s Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel for October 2011.

A few, short weeks ago variable mortgage rates were still being offered at Prime – 0.95%.  Market conditions have changed dramatically resulting in variable products moving 0.50% higher, despite no change to the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate.  This now puts variable rates in line with two year fixed mortgages.

Over the short term, the Panel believes fixed mortgage rates will dip, as lenders try to make them even more attractive to home buyers, while variable rate products will remain unchanged at their current higher levels.

Fixed mortgage rates: Down

In an effort to put longer term assets on their books mortgage lenders are attracting consumers with lower and lower fixed mortgage rates, as bond yields remain low.  Our Panel believes the short term fixed mortgage rate trend is down.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

“Nein to Greece” is what one Panel member believes Europe will decide; putting the country into default as the outlook worsens for the financial crisis across the Atlantic. This is already starting to hit home as the possibility of a Greek default is affecting Canadian lenders, leading to higher variable mortgage rates as lenders reduce their discounts to Prime.

Our Panel believes that in an effort to shift consumers away from variable products, lenders will keep variable mortgage rates stable over the short term with a bias towards increasing them closer and closer to Prime.

To read all the detailed commentary from our Panel Members, please visit:

http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The Panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

• Mark Kocaurek, Senior Vice President, Treasury & Lending (Chief Lending Officer) of ING DIRECT Canada
• Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
• George Hugh, President, Taurus Mortgage Capital, former Vice President, Treasury, ING DIRECT
• Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage
• Wayne Spinney, Mortgage Agent, Centum Mortgage Professionals

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)

RateSupermarket.ca is the largest impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best mortgage rates.  Their new Mortgage Tool App for the iPhone also allows house hunters to compare mortgage rates using their Smartphone. Over 1.5M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

RateSupermarket.ca’s Expert Panel Believes Lenders will Keep Rates Steady

TORONTO, Sept 13, 2011… The experts have spoken and the common theme for this month’s RateSupermarket.ca Mortgage Rate Outlook is higher margins.

Variable mortgage rates increased last month and most of the Big 6 Banks only recently reduced their fixed mortgage rates despite a huge drop in bond yields over the past several weeks.  Lenders are still enjoying mortgage spreads near historical highs.

Ultra low mortgage rates have resulted in unsustainable profitability so lenders are happy with increased margins. As a result, our Panel believes that fixed and variable mortgage rates will stay where they are for the time being.

Fixed mortgage rates: Unchanged

Many non-Big 6 mortgage lenders dropped their fixed mortgage rates weeks ago, while the major banks only started to drop rates slightly this week.  Following positive third quarter results from most of the banks, it seems most will continue to pad their margins versus pushing further into the rate war and going for market share.

Our Panel believes fixed mortgage rates will not change significantly in the next few weeks.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

Variable mortgage rates increased last month as lenders reduced their discounts to Prime citing unsustainable margins. This move followed the Bank of Canada announcement that interest rates will remain unchanged and the consensus is that this will continue for the rest of the year.

Other lenders started to follow suit and cut their discounts to Prime as well, but our Panel of experts don’t see any more changes to variable mortgage rates in the short term.

To read all the detailed commentary from our panel members, please visit:

http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

• Mark Kocaurek, Senior Vice President, Treasury & Lending (Chief Lending Officer) of ING DIRECT Canada
• Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
• Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage
• Wayne Spinney, Mortgage Agent, Centum Mortgage Professionals

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)

RateSupermarket.ca is the largest independent and impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best rates.  Their new Mortgage Tool App for the iPhone also allows house hunters to compare mortgage rates using their Smartphone. Over 1.5M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

RateSupermarket.ca’s Expert Panel Believes Fixed Rates are Heading Lower

TORONTO, August 17, 2011… RateSupermarket.ca, Canada’s go-to website for comparing mortgage rates, credit cards, savings rates and insurance quotes, has announced the results of their latest Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel.

The world was in a frenzy earlier in the month due to the US debt ceiling crisis and continued concerns in Europe.  Many Canadians took a hit on their stock portfolios but there is some good news coming out of this turmoil says RateSupermarket.ca `s Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel.  They believe fixed mortgages rates are heading lower while variable mortgage rates will remain at current low levels.

Fixed mortgage rates: Down

The benchmark Government bond yield dropped over 40% in the last month, resulting in five year fixed mortgage rates hitting an all time low in August.  Couple this with the fact that all major banks have not yet decreased their fixed mortgage rates and the Panel believes that fixed rates will head even lower before summer’s end.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

After the most recent Bank of Canada rate announcement, the guessing game started on when, not if, the federal bank will start increasing interest rates to “normal levels”  this year.  The past few weeks have changed this thinking and many believe that the Bank’s hands are tied, and now expect a delay in raising rates until 2012.

As variable mortgage rates typically follow the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate, in normal times it would be expected that variable rates would also remain unchanged.  Our Panel believes that this is true in the short term, however, they note that mortgage lender`s profitability on variable rates are low, putting upward pricing pressure on variable rate mortgages in the longer term.

To read all the detailed commentary from our panel members, please visit:

http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

• Mark Kocaurek, Senior Vice President, Treasury & Lending (Chief Lending Officer) of ING DIRECT Canada
• Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
• George Hugh, President, Taurus Mortgage Capital
• Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage
• Wayne  Spinney, Mortgage Agent, Centum Mortgage Professionals

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)

RateSupermarket.ca is the largest independent and impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best rates.  Their new Mortgage Tool App for the iPhone also allows house hunters to compare mortgage rates using their Smartphone. Over 1.5M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

RateSupermarket.ca’s Expert Panel Believes Rates will Stay Low until the Fall

TORONTO, June 10, 2011… RateSupermarket.ca, Canada’s go-to website for comparing mortgage rates and credit cards, has announced the results of their Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel for June 2011.

You can’t rush a recovery – no matter how hard you try.  With some of the world’s largest economies still struggling, the Bank of Canada is waiting patiently before making a move to increase interest rates which will also cause variable mortgage rates to rise.  Fixed mortgage rates, on the other hand, will stay low as homebuyers retract from the market.

Fixed mortgage rates: Unchanged

We’ve seen lower fixed mortgage rates over the past few weeks, and our Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel believes this mortgage rate trend will stick around.  Home sales are slowing, warnings continue about over leveraged consumers and bond yields have dropped.  As the demand for mortgages continues to soften, expect to see enhanced competition from lenders for new customers.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

It was no surprise that the Bank of Canada held its key overnight lending rate at 1 per cent at their last meeting on May 31st.  Our Panel believes we might be in for a few months of inactivity from the Governor before we see another increase.

Although Canada’s economic performance warrants higher interest rates, if we make a move ahead of the pack we’ll risk a spike in the Canadian Dollar and a negative impact on manufacturing and exports in general.  So as the US and Europe struggle with unemployment, sluggish recovery and debt, Canada will sit and wait for the right time to move.

To read all the detailed commentary from our panel members, please visit:

http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

-      Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage

-      Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University

-      Elisseos Iriotakis, President, SAFEBRIDGE Financial

-      George Hugh, President, Taurus Mortgage Capital

-      Mark Kocaurek, Senior Vice President, Treasury & Lending (Chief Lending Officer) of ING DIRECT Canada

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)

RateSupermarket.ca is the largest independent and impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best rates.  Over 1M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

RateSupermarket.ca’s Expert Panel Believes Rates will Start to Increase in July

TORONTO, May 13, 2011… RateSupermarket.ca, Canada’s go-to website for comparing mortgage rates and credit cards, has announced the results from their Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel for May 2011.

Despite overwhelming pressure for mortgage rates to increase, the panel of mortgage industry experts believe the Bank of Canada and mortgage lenders will continue to employ a slow and steady approach to rate hikes.  Don’t expect any movement in the short term, but rate increases are on the horizon.

Fixed mortgage rates: Unchanged

Although we’ve seen a slight dip in bond yields over the past few weeks, national and global economic conditions are improving, encouraging lenders to increase fixed mortgage rates.  However, low demand in the housing market will cause the banks to rethink this approach.  Home borrowers can expect fixed mortgage rates to stay where they are in the short term.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

Our strong loonie is reason enough for the Bank of Canada to hold off on increasing interest rates, despite the jump in inflation, when they meet later this month.  The experts are calling for level variable mortgage rates until July, but caution that discounts on Prime might get squeezed in the near future.

To read all the detailed commentary from our panel members, please visit:

http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

-      Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage
-      Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
-      Elisseos Iriotakis, President, SAFEBRIDGE Financial
-      George Hugh, President, Taurus Mortgage Capital, and former Vice President, Treasury, ING DIRECT

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)
RateSupermarket.ca is the largest independent and impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best rates.  Over 1M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

RateSupermarket.ca’s panel of experts expect fixed and variable mortgage rates to stay put in the short term

TORONTO, April 12, 2011… RateSupermarket.ca, Canada’s go-to website for comparing mortgage rates, has announced the results from their Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel for April 2011.

A spring election and the recent increase in fixed mortgage rates, leaves our panel of mortgage experts to believe that mortgage rates across the board will remain level during the next 30-45 days.

Fixed mortgage rates: Unchanged

Steady increases in bond yields at the end of March and beginning of April have resulted in higher fixed mortgage rates.  Now that oil prices are dipping and the loonie appears to have slowed or peaked, our experts think fixed rates will stay where they are in the short term.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

If anything can persuade the Bank of Canada to hold off on increasing interest rates, it’s a federal election.  With inflation under control this means that variable mortgage rates will remain unchanged in the short term.  Economists expect the rate holding pattern to remain in effect until July 2011.

To read all the detailed commentary from our panel members, please visit:
http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel
The panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

• Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage
• Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University
• Elisseos Iriotakis, President, SAFEBRIDGE Financial
• George Hugh, Vice President, Treasury, ING DIRECT

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)
RateSupermarket.ca is the largest independent and impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best rates.  Over 1M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.

The RateSupermarket.ca Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel was included in Rob Carrick’s Personal Finance Reader e-newsletter.  The newsletter includes the best of the Web on money, markets and all things financial, as chosen by the Globe and Mail’s personal finance columnist.

He highlighted the disagreement among our panel members about the short-term outlook for fixed mortgage rates.

Other features include advice on how to avoid investment fraud, a humorous story about a reporter’s test drive of an electric car, and some practical tips on getting sand out of your camera – tips that might come in handy this month as families head south for March Break.

RateSupermarket.ca’s panel of experts are not in agreement on the direction of fixed mortgage rates, low variable rates expected to continue

TORONTO, March 7, 2011… RateSupermarket.ca, Canada’s go-to website for comparing mortgage rates, has announced the results from their Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel for March 2011.

The short term outlook for fixed mortgage rates is unclear with the Panel expressing conflicting views, but the resulting consensus is unchanged. Homeowners can also expect low variable mortgage rates to continue in the short term, while the long term outlook is a slow and steady increase set to begin around the middle of 2011.

Fixed mortgage rates: Unchanged

Fixed mortgage rates have increased over the past few weeks and although the experts expect the upward trend to continue during 2011, it’s unclear where fixed rates are headed in the short term. The unrest in the Middle East is expected to put a short term lid on bond yields and possibly even cause yields to drop, which would normally result in slightly lower fixed mortgage rates, but given the strong Canadian dollar and moderate economic growth, the banks are more likely to stay pat then lower fixed rates again.

Variable mortgage rates: Unchanged

The recent increase in oil prices as well as escalating food prices means global inflationary pressures are rising.  However, these elevated prices are expected to slow but not derail global growth.  The current belief is that the Bank of Canada will start increasing interest rates as we head into the summer, meaning variable mortgage rates will remain steady for a few more months.

To read all the detailed commentary from our panel members, please visit:

http://www.ratesupermarket.ca/mortgage_rate_outlook_panel/

About the Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel

The panel includes some of the country’s top mortgage experts, and helps Canadian consumers make informed decisions by offering a short-term outlook for fixed and variable mortgage rates.

This month’s panel members:

-        Dan Eisner, MBA. AMP. President,  Verico True North Mortgage

-        Dr. Ian Lee, Director of MBA Program, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University

-        Elisseos Iriotakis, President, SAFEBRIDGE Financial

-        George Hugh, Vice President, Treasury, ING DIRECT

About RateSupermarket.ca (www.ratesupermarket.ca)
RateSupermarket.ca is the largest independent and impartial rate comparison service for personal finance products in Canada.  Founded in May of 2008, their easy to use comparison engine provides much needed transparency to the Canadian financial market and allows visitors to quickly find the best rates.  Over 1M Canadians have turned to RateSupermarket.ca to save money on their mortgage, insurance, credit cards and GICs.