DLC BLOG What is a Property Assessment vs a Home Appraisal? It’s the time of year when many homeowners are getting their property assessments. The real estate market is the single biggest influence on market values. Market forces vary from year to year and from property to property. The market value on an assessment notice […]

DLC BLOG Mortgage Broker Value Not surprisingly, borrowers often default to their own Banker. And why not? It’s an established and comfortable relationship. Perhaps it’s viewed as the path of least resistance. But is it the right lender for the borrower’s current specific needs? Perhaps not. More sophisticated borrowers may be of a size or […]

Bank of Canada Raises Rates Cautiously As was widely expected, the Bank of Canada announced another quarter-point interest rate increase this morning, saying that more hikes are ahead. According to Governor Stephen Poloz, the “big cloud” over the Canadian economy is the uncertainty associated with NAFTA and he cautioned that it would be some time […]

DLC BLOG 9 Reasons Why People Break Their Mortgages Did you know that 60 per cent of people break their mortgage before their mortgage term matures? Most homeowners are blissfully unaware that when you break your mortgage with your lender, you will incur penalties and those penalties can be painfully expensive. Many homeowners are so […]

December Homes Sales Surged In Advance of New Mortgage Rules The January 1 implementation of the new OSFI B-20 regulations requires that uninsured mortgage borrowers be stress-tested at a mortgage rate 200 basis points above the contract rate at federally regulated financial institutions. It is no surprise that home sales rose in advance of the […]

DLC BLOG Coming off the Bottom Are the good times really over for good? Recently, for the first time since 2012 we have seen the 5-year bond market climb back up over 2.0%. Based on amazing employment numbers and the likelihood that the Bank of Canada will raise rates on January 17, the bond market […]

DLC BLOG Bank Broker vs. Mortgage Brokers | Here’s the Scoop Ask any mortgage broker and they can tell you that there are a handful of misconceptions that the public has about working with a mortgage broker. From questioning their credentials (we all are regulated and licensed with in our own province, and are constantly […]

Robust Canadian Jobs Report for December Tops Off a Blockbuster Year The highly anticipated December Labour Force Survey, released this morning by Stats Canada, surpassed forecasts breaking multi-year records. Canada’s jobless rate fell to 5.7% in December, its lowest level in more than 40 years, raising the prospects for a Bank of Canada rate hike […]

DLC BLOG Top 5 costly financial mistakes homeowners make with their mortgage 1. Not consolidating high interest debt into low interest mortgage. 2. Paying “fees” to get the lower rate 3. Not looking at their long term forecast 4. Taking a 5 year rate when 3-4 years can be cheaper 5. Having their mortgage with […]

Much Ado About Almost Nothing–Non-Resident Ownership of Housing Statistics Canada in conjunction with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released their first report this morning from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program (CHSP), providing data regarding the non-resident ownership of Canadian housing. This program was mandated by the last federal budget, filling in a significant data […]