Mortgage specialists say they’re busier than usual these days answering panicked calls from Canadians holding a variable mortgage or set to renew who want to know how to save money in the face of rising interest rates.
Earlier this month, the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark lending rate a full percentage point, bumping it up to 2.5 per cent. This prompted Canadian banks to hike their prime lending rate to 4.7 per cent — the highest it’s been in more than 10 years.
“The really interesting thing about what’s going on is the incredible speed of the rate increases.… We’ve gone from 1.79 to 5.09 in a very short time — 22 months,” said Ron Butler, mortgage broker and one of the founders of Butler Mortgage, which operates across Canada.
He says people have grave concerns about just how far the rate is going to go, especially since it’s widely speculated Canada’s central bank is…
