Mortgage Brokers See Record-low Rates Coming

Excerpted from The Globe and Mail
As banks hold off on cuts, brokers see record-low mortgage rates Add to ...

TAMSIN McMAHON - REAL ESTATE REPORTER

The Globe and Mail (includes correction)

Published Thursday, Jan. 22 2015, 7:19 PM EST
Last updated Friday, Jan. 23 2015, 10:28 AM EST

  

Canada’s major lenders are so far holding off cutting mortgage rates in the wake of the Bank of Canada’s quarter-point interest rate cut, but industry officials predict rates will fall to historic new lows just in time for the all-important spring housing market.

Toronto-Dominion Bank said it is not planning to lower its prime rate following the central bank’s decision. Both Royal Bank of Canada and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said Thursday they were reviewing their rates in light of a lower overnight rate. 

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The Bank of Canada marker is pictured in Ottawa on September 6, 2011. The Bank of Canada will release its latest monetary policy report this morning -- a document expected to explore the economic damage inflicted by falling oil prices. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Mortgage brokers, however, say it is only a matter of time – anywhere from a few days to a few weeks – before banks start slashing their rates, with some predicting that as Government of Canada bond yields plummet below 1 per cent, five-year fixed rates could hit a new record-low 2.5 per cent, reigniting a fierce competition for new borrowers.

“Spring is around the corner and market-share battles will start to heat up,” said Vince Gaetano of Mortgagemonster.ca. “The first bank to make that change, it’s going to be huge from a market-share perspective.

“Someone will blink and that will probably lead everybody down the same path.”

Some small non-bank lenders have already begun cutting their fixed-mortgage offerings, said Drew Donaldson, a mortgage broker and executive vice-president Safebridge Financial Group. Consumers with variable-rate mortgages and preapprovals have been calling Mr. Donaldson’s office in droves looking to find out when their rates might drop.

In the past, when rates were high and lenders could expect wide margins on their mortgage businesses, the major banks would quickly follow on the heels of a Bank of Canada rate movement.

But with bond yields and interest rates plummeting to new lows and lenders facing a host of new regulatory requirements in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, banks have become far more reluctant to slash rates, mortgage planner Robert McLister said.

Banks will likely wait until the end of the fiscal quarter on Jan. 31, after a large share of homeowners have refinanced their mortgages, to slash rates in order to protect their profits, Mr. Gaetano said.

Some industry officials say that while banks will inevitably be forced to drop their fixed mortgage rates if bond yields settle at record lows, they may put off dropping their prime rate, which affects variable-rate mortgages along with a host of non-mortgage lending, such as car loans and personal lines of credit, in order to protect their non-mortgage profits and push borrowers toward longer-term fixed rate mortgage contracts.