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Fixed Rate Average Since 1957

July 8, 2010 by Gordon McCallum

Sometimes we hear people say something like “Four and a quarter percent? Wow, is that ever HIGH!” which causes us to involuntarily raise an eyebrow or scratch our heads.

The challenge we have in the mortgage business is sometimes about managing expectations. You see, when interest rates were bumping along at 5.5%, a drop to 4.99% was considered really good!

Fast forward a couple of years, and now that rates have been under four percent for awhile, the fact that they had recently gone up to the low to mid fours really upset some people who were quick to complain about how high rates were.

Clearly, they were higher than they had been…but historically speaking, they were still ridiculously low.

Our friends at Street Capital have done a little research, and this graph, which they supplied, is a good reminder of how high rates have actually been at times. Keep these in mind when you’re planning your next mortgage, and please, if you have a chance to take advantage of rates while they’re still REALLY low, you should do it.

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Some comments...

  • It should be noted that even the Average 5 year fixed rate since 1991 of 7.7% makes today’s rates look great.

    I think it is important to give people the perspective of rate averages since the monetary policy update in 1991, and factoring out the abnormally high rates of the 80’s.

    Great Social media presence! You are quickly becoming a great source of information for those in Alberta!

    Cheers!

    Liam (July 08, 2010)
  • Thanks for the comment Liam – you’re absolutely right. It’s not right to neglect the Bank of Canada’s position on managing inflation because it really does change the game, which is good news for Canadians.

    I suspect that the rate of 7.7% you mention above is also the posted rate, which used to be a fair comparison, but due to competition can no longer be relied upon. With a conservative discount of 1.2% off that number, let’s say 6.5%, we’re still far better off today than most times in history.

    Thanks for the feedback! It’s appreciated. Let us know how we can continue to improve.

    Gord McCallum (July 08, 2010)

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