{"id":9219,"date":"2021-07-09T14:43:56","date_gmt":"2021-07-09T14:43:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca\/the-lowest-mortgage-rate-in-canadas-history-is-here\/"},"modified":"2023-11-08T01:15:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T01:15:46","slug":"the-lowest-mortgage-rate-in-canadas-history-is-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca\/news\/the-lowest-mortgage-rate-in-canadas-history-is-here\/","title":{"rendered":"The lowest mortgage rate in Canada\u2019s history is here"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lowest mortgage rate in Canadian history hit the market this week to ravenous response.<\/p>\n

CanWise Financial is offering a 0.98% five-year variable rate mortgage that\u2019s being made available to homebuyers who have less than 20% for their down payments. It also includes a 120-day rate hold, a 20% prepayment option, three months of interest as the penalty for breaking the mortgage, and it\u2019s both portable and assumable.<\/p>\n

According to James Laird, president of Toronto-based CanWise Financial and co-founder of Ratehub.ca, where the rate can be found, the brokerage\u2019s in-house lending arm decided to offer the rate in response to softening market activity.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re offering prime minus 1.47%, which is 0.98%, because rates have been in the low 1s and with the current environment and activity slowing down a little bit, we thought a summer promotion would be a good idea to keep activity high through the summer months,\u201d Laird told CREW.<\/p>\n

The previous record-low mortgage rate of 0.99% was offered by HSBC late last year, but it wasn\u2019t made available through the mortgage broker channel.<\/p>\n

CanWise\u2019s rate is only available for high-ratio purchases, says Laird.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe maximum would be a $999,000 purchase price with 7.5% down, so $925,000 plus insurance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 0.98% rate should be on offer for as long as the current rate environment holds, which could last into 2022, depending on the employment situation.<\/p>\n

Laird added that CanWise has already fielded quite a few phone calls about its new rate, and the broker channel is abuzz, too, with prospective borrowers trying to lock it in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been some noise in the industry with respect to having shoppers contact me,\u201d said Daniel Johanis, principal broker at Pekoe Mortgages. \u201cIt\u2019s come up on the radar. It\u2019s good to see that there\u2019s healthy competition out there and they\u2019re offering something that gives the other banks a run for their money.\u201d<\/p>\n