Mortgage shoppers have even more reason to celebrate this month as fixed mortgage rates have dropped again. For the 4th time in the past month many of the big banks including RBC, TD and CIBC have dropped their 4 and 5 year fixed rates by 0.10%.

Fixed rates are heading lower as their main influence, Government bond yields, continue to dive as the benchmark 5 year bond yield is down 5.3% just today to 2.028 at 10.30am on August 24, 2008. With the spread between bond yields and fixed mortgage rates increasing, looking at historic spreads, there is room for fixed rates to fall even further.

Interestingly, RBC and TD only issued press releases saying their discounted fixed rates were heading lower while the posted 5 year fixed rates were decreased on their websites.

Could this be a shift where the big banks start to advertise more based on rate? The first signs of this was a few months back when BMO had a big marketing where they were proactively advertising their 5 year discounted 5 year fixed rate in print, TV etc. This was a change in direction for a of big bank mortgage lender to advertise on rate. Another change in strategic direction is CIBC’s now long-running campaign incentivizing home owners to ‘Switch’ to CIBC with higher air miles and cash back.

Where customer loyalty is the ultimate goal amongst the big banks pushing for a greater ‘share of customer’s wallet’, CIBC actively asking customers to switch shows a change in direction in the market and hopefully a change in Canadian consumer behaviour. Many home owners can save money by simply comparing the market and seeing what other offers are out there to access lower mortgage rates and we hope to help this trend continue.

Here are the latest fixed mortgage rate changes:

RBC fixed mortgage rates changes

TD fixed mortgage rates changes

CIBC fixed mortgage rates changes

You can compare mortgage rates here to see how these stand against brokers and credit unions.

Well some good news today for first time home buyers and home owners as fixed mortgage rates dropped again as RBC, CIBC, Scotiabank and Laurentian Bank announced the latest mortgage rate changes of -0.10% for most fixed rates. These new lower rates take effect today, August 17, 2010.

This comes on the heels of the latest CREA report that showed national home sales and house prices declined significantly last month. Seasonally adjusted home sales activity across Canada declined 6.8% from June and down 30% than July 2009.The Prairies and Quebec were level while BC (-14%) and Ontario (-8%) accounted for 85% of the change across the country.

Year to date transactions are still up 5.6% compared to the first 7 months of 2009, although it’s believed that many transactions were brought forward due to HST in BC & Ontario as well as lower mortgage rates. This gap is expected to close and eventually decline through the rest of the year. CREA’s President commented, “Activity may remain at lower levels for some time, but ultimately we expect a more stable market to emerge, with demand coming back into line with economic fundamentals.”

Average home prices in Canada in July 2010 was $330,351 (+1% year on year) edging up one% from the same month last year.
Supply has also increased based on the number of months of inventory it would take to sell houses listed on MLS based on the current sales rate, as this stands at 7 months last month which is up from 4.5 months last year.

Fixed mortgage rates are heading lower as Government of Canada bond yields have been declining recently. We’ve seen the benchmark 5 year bond yield drop by 14% in the past month and 6.6% just in August.

You can read about what our Mortgage Rate Outlook Panel of experts believe mortgage rate trends are heading.

Here’s a run down of the updated rates by bank:

RBC fixed mortgage rates changes

CIBC fixed mortgage rates changes

Scotiabank fixed mortgage rates changes

You can these bank compare mortgage rates against the rest of the market here.

RBC announced today that they’re dropping their fixed mortgage rates by 0.10%, which is effective for tomorrow August 4, 2010. This brings down their benchmark posted 5 year fixed mortgage rate to 5.59%. This rate decrease is mainly in response to the drop in the five government bond yield of almost 8% just in the past week. We expect the other major mortgage lenders to follow suit later this week.

We saw the best five year fixed mortgage rate for a quick close (ie. the deal must close within 45 days) drop to 3.89% this week as well.

Here is the full list of all the fixed rate decreases

You can check to find the lowest 5 year fixed rates in your local here.

RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) quietly lowered their fixed mortgage rates again on Friday July 2, 2010 by another 0.10%. This follows their move on June 25 to decrease their fixed rates by the same 0.10% margin. However, they did this somewhat under the radar as they didn’t issue the standard press release that usually accompanies these rate changes.

The reason that banks are now lowering their fixed mortgage rates are that their borrowing costs have plummeted in the past few weeks due to the drop in government bond yields.

The banks have been enjoying the past few weeks as their profit margins (spread) on fixed mortgages have increased as rates moved higher while their cost of funds has dropped. They are now slowly moving to drop rates again to bring the spread back in line to their ‘normal’ levels.

RBC’s variable mortgage rates remained unchanged and will do so until after the Bank of Canada’s next rate announcement on July 20.

RBC’s fixed mortgage rates are now as follows:

You can see how these new lower fixed mortgage rates compare to the rest of the mortgage market here.

RBC Royal Bank and TD Canada Trust today lead the mortgage rate market again by announcing another decrease in fixed mortgage rates effective tomorrow May 21, 2010.

Today’s mortgage rate changes only affect the 5 year fixed closed mortgage rates and the decreases are both by 0.11%, bringing their respective 5 year fixed posted rates to 5.99%, and we expect the other banks and lenders to follow suit.

RBC & TD’s posted 5 year fixed mortgage rates are now as follows:

Posted: 5.99% (-0.11%)

Discount rate: 4.59% (-0.11%)*

* The rates indicated are special discounted rates and are not the posted rates of Royal Bank of Canada. To calculate a rate discount compare the Special Offer rate against the posted rate for the applicable term.

RBC posted 5 year fixed mortgage rates:

Posted: 5.99% (-0.11%)

Posted: 4.59% (-0.11%)*

* The rates indicated are special discounted rates and are not the posted rates of Royal Bank of Canada. To calculate a rate discount compare the Special Offer rate against the posted rate for the applicable term.

Since our last 5 year government of Canada bond yield update, which is the main influence on 5 year fixed mortgage rates, we’ve seen the following drop, which has resulted in the 5 year fixed mortgage rate lowering as well:

5 year Government of Canada bond yields:

April 21, 2010 (peak): 3.205%

May 6, 2010: 2.764% (-13.8%)
May 12, 2010: 2.975% (+7.6%)
May 19, 2010: 2.687% (-9.7%)

Yesterday’s close of 2.687% is the lowest the bond yield has been since early March 2010 before fixed mortgage rates started rising from all-time lows towards the end of March. Today’s (May 20, 2010) intra-day trading saw this yield drop to a low of 2.547%, but it since has recovered to 2.616% as of 3.15pm.

It’s a great sign that the banks are dropping mortgage rates as their costs of borrowing decrease (lower bond yields) as that’s the reason they cited increasing these same rates in the first place. We’ll see how this roller coaster continues, especially as we approach the next Bank of Canada rate announcement on June 1st, where they’ll announce whether their increasing their key lending rate which influences variable mortgage rates. So we could see more turmoil in the next week or so.

RBC & TD continued a worrying trend for home owners and mortgage shoppers today as they announced that fixed mortgage rates were increasing yet again by 0.15%. This follows previous rate hikes that RBC & TD led the market with at that time, which started on March 29, 2010 with the biggest change being in 5 year fixed mortgage rates going up by 0.60%   , and then another 0.25%   . With today’s announcement that means that some mortgage rates have increased a full 1%    in less than a month. The latest increases will take effect tomorrow April 27, 2010.

Although most people don’t pay the posted fixed rate by the banks, they do give a good indication of the general trend of rates. For comparison purposes, the lowest 5 year fixed rate featured on RateSupermarket.ca are:

Variable mortgage rates have stayed constant during the past month as they’re influenced mainly by the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate, which could start increasing as early as June 1, taking variable rates higher with it.

Fixed mortgage rates, on the other hand, are increasing due to the mortgage lenders cost of borrowing going up. Fixed rates are mainly influenced by government bond yields, and the 5 year government bond yield have gone up 10% at their peak in the last month, while 5 year posted fixed mortgage rates have gone up 19% (6.25% vs 5.25%).

RBC Updated Fixed Rate Mortgages

RBC’s rates are changing as follows:

Fixed Rates     To:     Change:

6-month convertible     5.05%    (+0.15%)
One-year closed         3.80%    (+0.15%)
Two-year closed     4.15%    (+0.15%)
Three-year closed     4.75%    (+0.15%)
Four-year closed     5.74%    (+0.15%)
Five-year closed     6.25%    (+0.15%)
Seven-year closed     7.05%    (+0.15%)
Ten-year closed     7.20%    (+0.15%)

Special Fixed Rate Offers*

RBC’s specials have also gone up:

Four-year closed     4.59%    (+0.15%)
Five-year closed     4.85%    (+0.15%)

* The rates indicated are special discounted rates and are not the
posted rates of Royal Bank of Canada. To calculate a rate discount
compare the Special Offer rate against the posted rate for the
applicable term. Special Offers may be changed, withdrawn or extended at any time, without notice. Not available in combination with any other rate discounts, offers or promotions.

TD Canada Trust Updated Fixed Rate Mortgages

TD’s rates are changing as follows:

Fixed Rates     To:     Change:

6-month convertible     4.85%    +0.25%   
1-year open     6.70%    +0.15%   
1-year closed     4.05%    +0.15%   
2-year closed     4.55%    +0.25%   
3-year closed     5.10%    +0.25%   
4-year closed     5.74%    +0.15%   
5-year closed     6.25%    +0.15%   
6-year closed     6.30%    +0.25%   
7-year closed     6.59%    +0.25%   
10-year closed     6.90%    +0.25%   

Special Fixed Rate Offers

Fixed Rates To: Change:

1-year closed     3.05%    +0.15%   
4-year closed     4.59%    +0.15%   
5-year closed     4.85%    +0.15%   
7-year closed     5.25%    +0.25%   
10-year closed     5.59%    +0.25%   

You can always check how these mortgage rates compare against the rest of the market with our mortgage rate comparison search.

The past few week’s speculation that mortgage rates were going to increase sooner rather than later came true today as RBC was the first major lender to increase its fixed mortgage rates. RBC announced they were increasing the 3, 4 and 5 year posted fixed rates by 0.20%, 0.40% and 0.60% respectively.

Even the special, discounted rates were changed the same amounts. This comes after these same fixed rates were lowered just a few weeks ago. TD also announced they were increasing the same rates by the same margin and you can expect the other big banks to follow. These changes will take effect tomorrow, March 30, 2010.

RBC mortgage rate changes

Fixed Rate Mortgages

Three-year closed 4.35 per cent (+0.20 per cent)
Four-year closed 5.34 per cent (+0.40 per cent)
Five-year closed 5.85 per cent (+0.60 per cent)

Special Fixed Rate Offers*

Four-year closed 4.29 per cent (+0.40 per cent)

Five-year closed 4.55 per cent (+0.60 per cent)

TD’s updated mortgage rates

Fixed Rates To: Change:

6-month convertible     4.60%     no change
1-year open     6.55%    no change
1-year closed    3.65%   no change
2-year closed    3.95%   no change
3-year closed    4.70%   +0.40%
4-year closed    5.34%   +0.40%
5-year closed    5.85%   +0.60%
6-year closed    5.80%   no change
7-year closed    5.99%   no change
10-year closed    6.30%   no change

Special Fixed Rate Offers     To:     Change:

4-year closed    4.29%     +0.40%
5-year closed    4.55%     +0.60%

Variable Rates     To:

VIRM closed    TD Mortgage Prime
VIRM Open     TD Mortgage Prime + 0.80%

See how these mortgage rates compare to the market, and if it may be time to lock in.

RBC released the results of their 17th Annual Homeownership Survey of 2,000 Canadians in early January which showed that 64% expect mortgage rates to increase in the next year versus 66% of mortgage holders.

Other findings include:

The release also included a few tips for homeowners:

1. Look into your prepayment options – and take advantage if you can

2. Pay down higher cost debt – for example use a lower interest line of credit to pay down higher interest credit card debt.

3. Have a strategy to pay off your home equity line of credit.

RBC lowered their mortgage rates again, and they are effective today, December 9, 2009. This comes the day after the Bank of Canada announced they were keeping the target for the overnight rate steady @ 0.25%.

Fixed Rate Mortgages

One-year closed: 3.40% (-0.20%)

Four-year closed: 5.14% (-0.05%)

Five-year closed: 5.49% (-0.10%)

Special Fixed Rate Offers*

Four-year closed: 4.09% (-0.05%)

Five-year closed : 4.19% (-0.10%)

Variable Rate Mortgages

Variable Closed RBC Prime + 0.00% (no change)

See how these mortgage rates changes stack up against the rest of the market and compare mortgage rates now.

* The rates indicated are special discounted rates and are not the
posted rates of Royal Bank of Canada. To calculate a rate discount
compare the Special Offer rate against the posted rate for the
applicable term.

Special Offers may be changed, withdrawn or extended at any time,
without notice. Not available in combination with any other rate
discounts, offers or promotions.

RBC moved to increase its fixed rate mortgages yesterday as follows:

Fixed mortgage rates

Variable rate mortgages

Variable Closed RBC Prime + 0.00% (no change)

Special rate offers

* The rates indicated are special discounted rates and are not the
posted rates of Royal Bank of Canada. To calculate a rate discount
compare the Special Offer rate against the posted rate for the
applicable term.

Special Offers may be changed, withdrawn or extended at any time,
without notice. Not available in combination with any other rate
discounts, offers or promotions.

Now lets watch to see when the other banks follow suit.

Check out how these rates compare versus the rest of the market and compare mortage rates now.