The Great Mortgage Debate - Fixed Vs Variable.


Fixed Mortgage: Your mortgage payments will stay the same for the duration of the term.
Variable Mortgage: Payments change with the prime lending rate set by your lender.

Which is better?
Fixed Mortgage Pros and Cons

Pros:
  • Lock in payments for a specific time. You don’t need to worry about potential rate increases.
  • Take advantage of historically low rates.
 
Cons:
  • Expensive to break your mortgage. 60% of Canadians do.
  • Historically, the rates are higher than variable mortgages.
  • Expensive mortgage penalties. On a $500,000 mortgage the penalty is $22,500*.
 
Variable Pros and Cons:

Pros:
  • Over the past 25 years, variable rates have been cheaper.
  • Typically charge a 3-month mortgage penalty for breaking the mortgage. On a $500,000 mortgage, the penalty is about $5,625*.
 
Cons:
  • Your payment can go up based on the prime rate.
  • The monthly payment could fluctuate year over year.
 
📊 Interesting Stats:**
·        3 million homeowners have a mortgage, out of a total 9.8 million homeowners in Canada.
·        6 million Canadians have a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC).
·        68% of mortgages in Canada have fixed interest rates.
·        27% of mortgages have variable or adjustable rates.
·        The average amortization period is 22.2 years.
·        The average mortgage interest rate in Canada is 3.09%, up from 2.96% in 2017.