Mortgage Rates Canada - Where Will Canadian Mortgage Interest Rates Go? 2016 Predictions

2015 has been an interesting year with respect to the economy. We began 2015 with a .25% interest rate reduction, bringing the BOC’s lending rate down to .75%. We also began the year with oil prices hitting lows we haven’t seen for a very long time. The Canadian dollar has softened and just a month ago the BOC announced another rate change, slashing the key interest rate by a further .25%. This makes the BOC’s current interest rate .5%!

Mortgage rates in Canada are so low that really, where the interest rates are concerned, the BOC only has .5% left and the key interest rate will be 0% meaning that latest interest rate drop will have to make a big impact or the Canadian economy could be in for some turbulence. Generally the interest rate is reduced to protect the economy but with rates so low it doesn’t leave much wiggle room.

Following the BOC’s announcement, it was reported in the Globe and Mail that the major Canadian Banks followed suit and also cut their lending rates:/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/interest-rates/td-cuts-prime-rate-in-wake-of-bank-of-canada-move/article25515826.

The article reports that:

·         Toronto-Dominion Bank initially decreased its prime rate – the benchmark for creditworthy borrowers – to 2.75 per cent, down 0.10 percentage points.

·         Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce responded, reducing theirs by 0.15 points to 2.70 per cent from 2.85 per cent.

While the key lending rate has less wiggle room, the banks inching down their rates has left them far more room to breathe.

This year and coming into 2016 is the hardest ever when it comes to predicting where interest rates will go. So many factors are contributing to the performance of the Canadian economy: the dollar, employment rates, income rates, household debt, oil prices, the housing market and much, much more…

The Bank of Canada key interest rate - this page provides both the current rate but also a 12 month history of past rate announcements and a schedule of future rate announcements. Check it out: http://www.bankofcanada.ca/core-functions/monetary-policy/key-interest-rate/.

Want to follow interest rates? Here is a table from the BOC website outlining 2015’s rate announcements and adjustments as well as the schedule for Canadian interest rate announcements for the rest of the year.

·         January 21, 2015 – interest rate was reduced by .25% making the lending rate .75%

·         March 4, 2015 – no change was made to the interest rate

·         April 15, 2015 – no change was made to the interest rate

·         May 27, 2015 – no change was made to the interest rate

·         July 15, 2015 – Interest rate was reduced by .25% making the lending rate .5%

·         September 2015 – Interest rate announcement

·         October 21, 2015 – Interest rate announcement and Monetary Policy Report

·         December 2, 2015 – Interest rate announcement

If you could predict where interest rates will go coming into 2016 – what would your prediction be? Let us know on Twitter: @purview4lenders.