The Bank of Canada once again (and to no surprise) maintains it's overnight rate following their interest rate announcement at 10:00am this morning (Wednesday, March 6, 2013). This means the prime rate on your mortgage or line of credit will remain unchanged at 3.00% and your payment will not change. The rate has been unchanged now since September 2010 adding to the longest unchanged streak since the 1950's.
Here is an excerpt from the announcement made by the Bank of Canada and what they had to say about their decision:
"Canada's economy grew by 0.6 per cent at annual rates in the fourth quarter of 2012, with solid growth across most domestic components of GDP offset by a sharp reduction in the pace of inventory investment. The Bank expects growth in Canada to pick up through 2013, supported by modest growth in household spending combined with a recovery in exports and solid business investment."
This doesn't affect fixed mortgage rates, which remain as low as 2.74% for a 5 year fixed. 5 year fixed rates of 2.99% have been available to us since this time last year, so fixed rates are remaining stable as well (although they are influenced by bond yields as opposed to prime rate). Given this information, I would recommend anyone currently enjoying a deeper discount (prime -0.50 or more) to stay where they are, unless they are feeling uncomfortable with all the economic volatility. Anyone with less of a discount may want to consider switching to take advantage of today's historical low rates, which may be very similar to what you are paying right now, however it will give you protection against future rate increases. It may also be a great time to consolidate any higher interest debt into your mortgage to take advantage of such low rates and lowering your overall monthly payment and amount of interest you are paying significantly.
The next interest rate announcement will be on April 17th, 2013. Here is the link to the announcement:
http://www.bankofcanada.ca/2013/03/pres ... 013-03-06/(first edit - add link. second edit - change mortgage rate to reflect drop to 2.74%)_________________
Paul Meredith
Mortgage Broker
CityCan Financial (est 1976)
416-409-8009
http://www.easy123mortgage.capaulm@citycan.comLic#10532
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