Rate-cut hopes took another beating Friday, ambushed by jobs numbers that overdelivered on both sides of the border.
Canada’s estimated 88,000 new jobs blew past forecasts and, paired with a rebounding April GDP estimate, left recession forecasters quietly studying their shoelaces.
South of the border , the Americans doubled their job forecasts, and futures markets have swung to pricing in rate hikes in both countries by December.
None of this is spooking the variable-rate crowd , however.
More than 52 per cent of prime borrowers at Dominion Lending Centres (DLC) reached for a floating rate in May. DLC originates more mortgages than anyone in the country, which makes it a reasonably honest market proxy.
The variable allure is especially strong on the insured side, where Pine is advertising prime minus 1.10 per cent (3.35 per cent), the lowest nationally-advertised floater in the nation.
It’s second only to Butler Mortgage’s 3.30 per cent adjustable rate in Alberta, B.C. and Ontario.
If inflation keeps you up at night and you’d rather hedge, regional players like Ratebuzz and credit unions will still land you near or under four per cent on the country’s favourite fixed term , the three-year.
Robert McLister is a mortgage strategist, interest rate analyst and editor of MortgageLogic.news. You can follow him on X at @RobMcLister.
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