Monday Market News for August 9th, 2010 - Edmonton and Calgary

First Foundation Best Rates to open the week:

1 Yr – 2.60%
2 Yr – 3.04%
3 Yr – 3.44%
4 Yr – 3.79%
5 Yr – 3.89%
7 Yr – 4.95%
10 Yr – 5.29%
Adjustable Rate Mortgage – 2.05%
Line of Credit – 3.25%

Prime Rate – 2.75%
Qualifying Rate – 5.79%

Several of our lenders dropped their mortgage rates today on the heels of decreases announced by TD Canada Trust, BMO and CIBC last week. More are expected to follow suit during the course of the week.

The Qualifying Rate, or Benchmark Rate remains at 5.79% this week despite the drops as it is calculated on Wednesdays and announced on the proceeding Monday morning. The rate drops announced by some of the Big 6 last week were announced prior to Wednesday but were not actually effective until AFTER Wednesday so they were not influential on this weeks calculation of the Qualifying Rate. The good news is that next Monday’s Qualifying Rate should be down to 5.59%, barring any drastic changes to the market this week.

S&P/TSX Composite Index unofficially closed up today at 58.61 points or 0.5%, to 11.85.88.

Oil and metal prices are considered to be firming and helped to boost the energy sector, certainly great news for the Edmonton and Calgary area as so many residents are employed in the resource industry. Wheat prices are also rallying, adding to the overall strength of the current economic picture and experts are now anticipating moderate growth, rather than a double dip recession.

With plenty of house listings on the market due the recent “vacation time” slow down, interest rates back down to their historical low, and an economy that is finally considered to be firming, there really could be no better time to consider buying a home. And if you act fast, you may not have to move in the snow! Of course, if you live in Edmonton, that could be next Tuesday so don’t delay contacting one our Mortgage Brokers today to lock in one of these incredible interest rates.