Mortgage Blog
CAAMP Stats - February 2012
February 1, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
Every month we publish the statistics that the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) sends us as a service to our readers.
To view the latest stats regarding the following, click here.
Bank of Canada Interest Rate
Government of Canada Bonds
Bank Prime Lending Rate
Total New Housing Starts
Conventional Mortgage – 5 Year Rate
Average MLS® Resale Price for Local Markets
US Federal Reserve Board Discount Rate
Exchange Rate $CDN($US)
Market & Mortgage News - Week of Jan.30th, 2012, Edmonton and Calgary
January 31, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
First Foundation’s Best Rates Top Open the Week:
1 Year 2.89%
2 Year 2.89%
3 Year 2.79%
4 Year 2.99%
5 Year 3.19%
7 Year 3.99%
10 Year 3.89%
ARM / Variable 2.90%
Line of Credit 3.50%
Prime Rate 3.00%
Qualifying Rate 5.29%
Market News
Plenty of good news cheered the world markets today as Greece is only days away from finalizing a deal that will reduce the financially troubled country’s obligations by 100 billion euros ($131 billion Cdn). China posted gains in it’s manufacturing sector and ...
Read more »Keepin' It Real - "Old Habits"
January 30, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
Jennifer is a Albertan single Mom on a mission – to save enough in one year to make an extra payment on her mortgage. With four kids, a modest income and a second goal of creating a buffer fund, can she eek out $1500 to make that pre-payment and if so, will she actually apply it to the mortgage or will she take herself to an all-inclusive in Jamaica instead? Follow Jenn on her “adventures in savings” as she cuts coupons, corners and possibly her own hair to prove that making an extra mortgage payment every year can be done! New ...
Mortgage & Market News - Week of Jan.23, 2012, Edmonton and Calgary
January 24, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
First Foundation’s Best Rates to Open the Week:
Term Rates
1 Year 2.89%
2 Year 2.89%
3 Year 2.89%
4 Year 2.99%
5 Year 3.15%
7 Year 3.99%
10 Year 3.89%
ARM / Variable 2.90%
Line of Credit 3.50%
Prime Rate 3.00%
Qualifying Rate 5.29%
Market News
Energy and financial issues were pushing the TSX to its fourth straight positive finish on Monday, as natural gas prices rose and European finance ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss Greek debt just prior to the European Union summit next week.
At ...
Read more »Keepin' It Real - Setting Financial Goals (Part Two)
January 22, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
Read “Part One” of this blog here
As I’m viewing this additional mortgage payment venture as an extra, like saving for a trip to Paris or a new TV and I need any extra income over an above expenses and my 10% savings to go towards an everyday emergency fund for things like vet bills and braces, I want to squeeze the funds for this out of my variable expenses. I’d like to say I achieved this goal by thriftiness and good planning! So where to begin?
I started by using an online savings goal calculator to determine ...
Read more »Keepin' It Real - Setting Financial Goals (Part One)
January 21, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
I sat down to begin planning my strategy for achieving my two financial goals this year, creating a buffer ( three months living expenses) and saving for an extra mortgage payment ( $1560 ) and I realized something rather shocking. I’d never really done this before. I guess I could say that I have saved for vacations but it was more a last minute dash affair than a planned and executed one. I was blessed enough to be gifted the downpayment I made on my first home and I was also blessed to have recouped that downpayment and then some on every ...
Read more »Navigating Utilities Options in Alberta
January 20, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
Variable or fixed? This is a question you should ask yourself not once but twice when you purchase a home. Firstly, in regards to your mortgage and second in regards to your utilities. That’s because in Alberta, we have the ability to choose how we want to pay for our gas and our electricity. In truth, the correct utlities “lingo” is slightly different from mortgage termonology although they work very similarily. The real question to ask yourself would be “regulated or contract”?
“Regulated” means that the rates charged by your provider are reviewed and approved by a regulator and ...
Read more »Mortgage & Market News - Week of Jan.16, 2012, Edmonton and Calgary
January 17, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
First Foundation Best Rates to Open the Week:
Mortgage Rates
1 Year 2.89%
2 Year 2.89%
3 Year 2.89%
4 Year 2.99%
5 Year 3.19%
7 Year 3.99%
10 Year 3.89%
ARM / Variable 2.90%
Line of Credit 3.50%
Prime Rate 3.00%
Qualifying Rate 5.29%
Market News
The Toronto stock market was slightly higher Monday as traders took in stride a downgrade of nine eurozone countries by Standard & Poor’s rating agency and Greece’s difficulties in thrashing out a deal with private creditors.
Nine European countries saw their S ...
Read more »Keepin' It Real
January 11, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
As First Foundation’s resident blogger, I traverse the information highway each week, searching for useful yet interesting information that hopefully educates and empowers our homebuying and homeowning readership. This year, I’ll be detouring down a more personal road once a week with the new segment, Keepin’ It Real.
Outside my professional life, I’m a single mom of four children and one Shitzu ( insert Reba theme song here). I’m a small-town Alberta girl who still lives on the outskirts of Edmonton, loving both the culture and glamour of the capital city and the grounding comfort of my ...
Read more »Market & Mortgage News - Week of Jan. 09, 2012, Edmonton and Calgary
January 9, 2012 by Jennifer Rochford
First Foundation’s Best Rates To Open the Week:
Term Rates
1 Year 2.89%
2 Year 2.69%
3 Year 2.99%
4 Year 3.24%
5 Year 3.25%
7 Year 3.99%
10 Year 4.49%
ARM / Variable 2.90%
Line of Credit 3.50%
Market News
The Toronto stock market turned positive late on Monday after a day of lacklustre trading due to pervasive concerns about Europe’s stumbling efforts to get a handle on its government debt crisis as well as the launch of U.S. earnings season.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained ...
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