Record low mortgage rates could be coming within weeks due to the global economy, forecasts the BC Real Estate Association (BCREA).
"The silver lining in the recent global economic uncertainty is that mortgage rates have the potential to reach record lows in the coming weeks as investors flock into bond markets," said Cameron Muir, BCREA chief economist. "The increased affordability and added purchasing power from lower mortgage rates will help bolster housing demand."
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is already lowering its four-year fixed rate to 3.19 per cent, according to sources at the nation's biggest lender. Reportedly, RBC may offer discretion below that to 2.99 per cent for highly qualified borrowers.
At the same time, though, RBC and other banks have been raising their variable rates, which reached historical lows of prime minus 0.8 per cent earlier in August. These rates were victims of their own success, drawing unprecedented numbers of homeowners to variable-rate mortgages. But variable mortgages have much thinner profit margins than fixed-rate, so banks and lending institutions have stepped back from recent bargain-basement offerings.
See our Mortgages page for today's mortgage rates.
