NEW GOV’T LENDING GUIDELINES COMING SOON!

General Denise Dunkley 30 May

Niagara Mortgage and Refinance – HELOC’s
 
We’re hearing from multiple sources that a 65% loan-to-value (LTV) maximum is now a done deal for lending HELOC mortgages (Home Equity Line of Credit).
The HELOC LTV limit is currently 80% (meaning 20% property equity needs to stay in the home). 

Should the same rules apply to low-risk borrowers versus high-risk borrowers? On a case-by-case scenario, some homeowners have a line of credit in place for emergency situations and when needed they utilize lump sum privileges to quickly repay…on the other hand, you have homeowners that max their usage and only pay back the minimum. 

Which leads me to the question…should the ‘low-risk’ be qualified the same, or be put in the same pot, as the high-risk borrowers?

 

How high will interest rates go?

General Denise Dunkley 10 May

As of May 9, 2012 – In light of the still-lofty debtloads, the signal emerging from the central bank in April that interest rates are likely to rise sooner than later will present a challenge to many households. In response, we, along with many other forecasters, have tinkered with our interest rate forecast. 

We now believe that the Bank of Canada will likely resume hiking interest rates this coming fall rather than in the winter. However, those increases are still likely to be very gradual. We feel that they will be limited to just 1 percentage point in increases over the next two years. With the U.S. Federal Reserve on hold likely until 2014, any hikes in excess of that by the Bank of Canada would put upward pressure on the Canadian dollar, dampen export growth, and weaken the economic recovery. However, once the U.S. economy gains more traction and interest rates head higher, the Bank of Canada will have more scope to raise the overnight rate further…