The Best Mortgage Rates in Vancouver

Vancouver Key Stats

• Vancouver population (2011): 2,313,328
• Dwelling units (2011): 949,565
• Unemployment Rate (2012): 6.6
• Employment Level (2012): 1,285,000

Source: Stats Canada, CMHC

Vancouver Mortgage Rates to Moderate in 2013

Mortgage rates are expected to remain at historical lows for the first portion of 2012 before moderating later in the year. The CMHC forecasts that the one-year posted mortgage rate will be within the 3.1 to 3.6 range, with five-year posted rates in the range of 5.0 to 5.4 per cent. Rates are expected to rise in 2013 to 3.5 to 4.1 per cent for one-year, and 5.1 to 5.6 per cent for five-year mortgage rates.

Source: CMHC

Vancouver 2012 Housing Market Outlook

Stable economic conditions in Vancouver, supported by rising full time employment and a downward trend in the unemployment rate, are expected for 2012 and 2013, despite international economic uncertainty.

Vancouver has historically been a seller's market, featuring some of the highest MLS resale prices in Canada. This is expected to balance out in the year to come, with these market conditions moderating in the Burnaby, West Vancouver and Vancouver City regions during the first quarter of the year. Areas such as the Tri-City region and North Vancouver, however, remain sellers' markets featuring listings at higher price points.

Housing starts are expected to grow four per cent in 2012 and 2013, with much of the growth occurring in multiple-family housing. Starts in this segment are expected to boom to 14,700 units from 2011 levels of 32,936. This is to increase further still to 15,200 units in 2013.

Single detached starts are expected to increase moderately to 3,800 this year, up from 3,686 in 2011. This is expected to rise to 4,000 units in 2013.

MLS sales and prices are forecasted to remain flat this year and the next, with 32,000 units this year, a three per cent decline from 2011, and grow eight per cent to 34,500 in 2013. Prices are expected to moderate slightly from 2011 levels of $779,730, to $768,000 this year. This is anticipated to rise, however, to $803,000 in 2013.

Source: CMHC Housing Market Outlook

Vancouver Housing Market & Mortgage Rate Forecast

Vancouver Mortgage Rates Will Slowly increase in 2010.

The CMHC best case scenario, expect mortgage rates will continue to slowly increase in 2010 with a one year mortgage rate to be in the 3.6 to 4.8% range and the three and five year mortgage rates to be in the 4.2 to 6.7% range. In 2011, CMHC forecasts that the one year mortgage rate will be in the range of 5.0 to 6.0% whereas, the three and five year mortgage rate will be in the range of 5.6 to 7.2%. However, if the economy recovers at a faster rate than expected, mortgage rates may increase at a more rapid rate.

Balanced resale market forecast for 2010 and 2011

According to CMHC, the demand for home ownership will be supported by an increase in the economy, the job market and population growth. The resale market is expected to balance in 2010 and 2011. With low mortgage rates in 2009, a higher percentage of first time homeowners were seen. Now with the mortgage rates increasing CMHC is expecting that percentage to decrease. This will result in a 3% decrease in sales for 2010 and 2011. However, more homes are for sale resulting in a balanced resale market for 2010 and 2011.

The average MLS price is expected to increase 11% due to the first quarter of 2010 still experiencing low mortgage rates. This is a common lag of reaction between the market being more balanced and the reaction of the price. By 2011, the home prices are forecast to rise a modest 3%. In 2009, 48% of single homes sold above $700,000. The first quarter of 2010, MLS showed that 62% of single homes sold were above this threshold.

Construction of new homes is expected to increase during the 2010 and 2011 period. An expected 16,000-18,000 new households are expected due to the increase in migration. For 2010, 12,000 new homes are expected resulting in a 44% increase from 2009. A further increase is expected in 2011 with 14,500 new homes expected. Multiple family starts are also expected to increase. A 57% increase is forecast for 2010 resulting in 8,500 units, followed by a 24% increase in 2011.

RateSupermarket.ca provides an easy to use comparison tool that enables our visitors to easily compare and find the best mortgage rates Vancouver. We compare mortgage rates from the top Vancouver lenders such as ResMor Trust, ING DIRECT, and RBC, to mortgage brokers such as True North Mortgage and Verico Advent Mortgage. Don't worry about having to call 4 or 5 different lenders and find out what their best rates are as we have all the top lenders listed, with some providing their posted rates and some with their best offers. You may as well give your business to the company that's upfront in telling you what their best mortgage rates Vancouver they have available and if you're able to qualify for that rate. If you want to contact any of the lenders or brokers listed on RateSupermarket.ca you can easily choose to arrange a call back, apply online, go to their website or use our Click to Talk service to speak to them instantly for free about best mortgage rates Vancouver.

CMHC Vancouver housing market & Vancouver mortgage rate forecast

Mortgage shopping in Vancouver

What to look for when you are mortgage shopping? Well if you currently don't own a property, it's probably a good idea to see how much of a mortgage you can afford and this process is called getting pre-approved, which is very different than pre-qualified. If you secure one of the best mortgage rates Vancouver during the pre-approval process, that means that you've been approved by the lender and you usually are guaranteed that rate for 90 - 120 days. That gives you quite a bit of time to find a property.

If you already own a Vancouver house or property then you can still get pre-approved for a best mortgage rate Vancouver and you will usually get the same rate guarantee as a new home buyer, and as you probably already have built up equity in your house, you may qualify for a better rate.

The next step is to decide what type of mortgage you want: fixed rate, variable, closed, open, convertible. There are so many choices but a good mortgage broker or agent can help you with your decision dependent on your financial situation and they will also help you find the best mortgage rates Vancouver. It's probably very likely that the days of people and businesses over-leveraging themselves by taking on the maximum amount of debt are over, although Canada's historically conservative ways insulated us from the well-documented problems that happened in the US and UK. These country's mortgage lenders were giving people home loans based on ridiculous multiples of their salaries, like 6 or 7 times their earnings where any slight bump in the road would mean they couldn't afford their house payments, even if they had the same deals as the best mortgage rates Vancouver.

After the deal

Once you've secured the best mortgage rates Vancouver, have gotten pre-approved and found your ideal property, you're almost home free. You'll just need to organize your move. One of the things that many people overlook when searching for the best mortgage rates Vancouver is mortgage life insurance. You may have been offered a quote for creditor insurance by your lender or broker, but once again, it pays to compare quotes and speak to an expert just as you did for best mortgage rates Vancouver. RateSupermarket.ca also offers an easy mortgage life insurance comparison for people in BC, so be sure to make sure you check out the rates, as this coverage enables you to cover the home loan payments should any of the contributors pass away. As you can see it's not a simple process to find the best mortgage rates Vancouver, so you need to allow a suitable amount of time for it which can take from a few months to a year. We do hope to help you simplify the best mortgage rates Vancouver process by providing a simple, one-stop shop for your mortgage purposes and hope you can find the best deal for best mortgage rates Vancouver.

RateSupermarket.ca understands that it's important to gather information, compare the market, speak to an expert, then speak to an expert when looking for best mortgage rates Vancouver. Check out our mortgage guide, articles and blog for tips, handy things to look out for and quick wins. This information should help you during your search and simplify the search for best mortgage rates Vancouver.