Should you go with a variable-rate mortgage or opt for the old reliable five-year fixed rate? How can you make sure your payments are predictable while also paying down your principal? Are static payments a good idea?
The questions around mortgages are overwhelming at the best of times for home buyers and refinancers, but especially now as the Bank of Canada has aggressively increased its benchmark interest rate to 2.5 per cent from 0.25 per cent over the past six months.
With most economists expecting another rate hike in September, the housing market is expected to cool further in 2022.
But even as many Canadian markets see substantial price drops from the peak in February 2022, higher rates are limiting how much mortgage the banks are offering to buyers.
