Jobless data for October

November 02, 2007

Hello,

This morning, Statistics Canada released the jobless (unemployment) data for October. The results were very surprising and caught most economists by surprise (again). In October, Canada added 63,000 jobs across the country. Remember, this is net of all the job losses we continue to read about in the manufacturing sector. Hourly wages increase 4.1% vs. the same period one year earlier.

This has two implications for the economy:

First, this news suggests the Bank of Canada (BOC) will be staying put at its next interest rate meeting in December. Now, a lot could happen between now and December, but all things being equal, we can expect Prime rates to remain stable for the foreseeable future. That might not be good news for ARM and HELOC customers, who were expecting the BOC to cut rates to keep the Canadian Dollar in check.

Second, the Canadian dollar briefly shot above $1.07 U.S. on the jobless data which puts further pressure on our exporters. However, it also puts more pressure on retailers who will be forced to adjust prices to reflect U.S. pricing in order to ensure they have a strong holiday season. The combination of price cuts with the increase in jobs is expected to help shield the Canadian economy from slower exports to the U.S. as consumer spending is expected to remain strong.

Regional Data can be found in the Globe and Mail online at http://www.reportonbusiness.com/v5/content/datamap/canada/jobs_20071102.html

The above link shows the jobless rate by province and major cities. Most provinces and major cities posted declines in the jobless rate (meaning more new jobs).

Document provided by Merix Financial

Dragon's Den

November 01, 2007

Are you looking for something exciting to watch, but can't stop thinking about your mortgage. Well, you don't have to. Tune into CBC on Monday (Nov. 5th) night to watch yours truly (Dan Eisner) present the True North Mortgage business to the Dragons on CBC's Dragon's Den at 8:00pm.

The Dragon's Den is a reality based television program that originated in Japan. The format, which now airs internationally, consists of entrepreneurs pitching their ideas to secure investment finance from business experts - the "Dragons".

Our segment will last no longer than 10 minutes so don't blink; then the next morning check out the True North Mortgage blog at http://truenorthmortgage.blogspot.com/ to find out the rest of the story.
Sincerly,
Dan

Variable Rates - Get them now before they are gone

October 05, 2007

There is significant pressure to increase interest rates on variable and adjustable rate mortgages due to the sub-prime mess south of the boarder.

 

The current pricing on variable rates are as low as Prime -1.00%, but that may not be available for much longer. Some banks have already changed to Prime -.50%, a 40 bps increase and we expect this to spread to all lenders.

 

In layman's terms, what is happening?

 

Variable/ Adjustable Rate Mortgages are typically priced according to the current 30-day Banker Acceptances (BA), which are a very common short-term money market investment, guaranteed by the banks. A lender funding adjustable/variable rate mortgages would typically borrow money through a 30-day Banker's Acceptance. The lender is then responsible for paying the yield (rate of return) to the investor who purchased the BA. This yield is the cost of funding mortgages (?Cost of Funds?) to the lender or bank.

 

So, what's happening to the BA yields?

 

This is where the story has become interesting over the past few months. The failure of the U.S. sub-prime market worried money-market investors. In Canada, investors began to sell off investments creating a strain on the market. Those who remained demanded higher yields from the BA market as no one was sure as to how much of these BA's were used to finance U.S. sub-prime mortgages, or sub-prime mortgages here in Canada or other risky ventures. Everyone was asking the same thing: What's the risk exposure? A classic example of the market overreacting.

 

The resulting increase in BA yields increased the cost of funds for lenders who want to finance their Variable/ Adjustable Rate Mortgages. Essentially it's costing lenders much more money now to finance variable rate mortgages than it did 60 days ago.

 

The following is a comparison of 30-day Banker's Acceptance yields over the past 60 days:

 

July 17, 2007: 4.54%

 

August 3, 2007: 4.60%

 

August 14, 2007: 4.75%

 

August 17, 2007: 4.92%

 

September 11, 2007: 4.98%

 

September 17, 2007: 5.04%

 

THIS IS DRAMATIC

 

In 60 days we've seen the yield on 30 day BA increase 50 bps.Now consider the interest rate earned by the lenders on an ARM at Prime - .90%. Today that interest rate is 5.35%. When you compare this to the current Cost of Funds at 5.04%, which doesn't include overhead, profit margin, one can see that it's only a matter of time before prices for ARMs need to change.

 

How long will this continue?

 

Are we seeing the end of the days of Prime - .90%? Perhaps for a while, until the money markets settle down.The silver lining in all this is that due to Canada's continued economic expansion and the reality of an $80+ barrel of oil, our longer term bonds are in high demand. As a result, we might see some interest rate decreases on the fixed rate products.*Source: Bank of Canada