Financing

Mortgage Rates

"On June 23, 2009 another major lender - TD Canada Trust announced that they will not accept Pre-approvals any more," says Kyle Green of Mortgage Alliance (604-551-8976). "The cost of doing a Pre-approval is very expensive for banks, since less than 1/3rd of the Pre-approvals actually fund and the bank still hedges the funds which costs them millions each year. One lender was rumoured to be losing $20 million per year on pre-approvals. Because of the constraints on the market right now, if you are thinking of buying in the next 3 or 4 months, you should consider getting your pre-approval in now in case this continues to be a trend."

Indeed. Good advice, Kyle. Rates are still crazy. In the US the 30 year rate rose from 4.71% to 5.3% despite all of President Obama's best efforts to the contrary. If the world wakes up and refuses to take American Treasuries ... no one will be able to halt a sharp rise in interest rates. We moved in one day by almost a full percent last week. So, we know it is possible. Today's 5 year 4.12% rate is still a great rate for an investor.