Best Mortgage Rates Offered by Major Players (rates as of July 26th 2011) | Mortgages | Discussion forum

Interesting list, it's about what I figured - mostly CUs and non-bank lenders. I'm surprised Street Capital or MCAP did not make the cut, either. Also, interesting, as you say, PCF and ING didn't. Somewhat surprised First Calgary Savings has the best five-year fixed rate.

It's worth noting these are posted rates, are they not? The big banks are typically much more "cagey" in that they can really "sharpen their pencils" and provide discounted pricing generally based on the relationship you have with the bank. HSBC's best rates on mortgages for Premier customers, for example, are very competitive and they will often match other banks or credit union rates if they're not. The posted retail customer rates are, however, not all that competitive.

Mind you, they tell us that last year, it was challenging to get investment fund business. This year, it's mortgage business that's the tough one. People aren't do any major new secured lending, are holding off on purchasing decisions and, surprise, actually counting their pennies. This is also why I've been saying savings (deposit) rates will remain very low for the foreseeable future - banks are flush with deposits and don't need to raise capital. Until we see a major pick-up in lending, deposit rates will stay low. Another reason keeping rates low, at least among the major banks, is they can raise capital from the Bank of Canada or even the global bond market more cheaply than going to depositors with great rates whereas the credit unions can't borrow directly from the Bank of Canada and don't get as good of rates from the bond market so their only options to raise cash are to offer great deposit rates or borrow from their credit facilities with the Big Five banks, which is typically the most costly way to raise capital.

Cheers,
Doug