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Are you navigating through the rough Canadian housing and mortgage markets? Interest rate hikes over the past 3 years have undoubtedly caused concerns among Canadian households. However, the Bank of Canada’s (BOC) rate cut on June 05, 2024 brings a little bit of relief for first-time homebuyers and owners.
The Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) mortgage portfolio also witnessed the impact of BOC’s rate hikes between 2022 and 2023 but is holding strong as new and existing borrowers continue to show trust in their mortgage products. Following BOC rate cut on June 5, 2024, the Royal Bank of Canada readjusted its prime rate to 6.950%.
RBC is the largest bank in Canada and one of the 15 largest global banks by market capitalization. It provides a wide range of financial services, including retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking, mortgage loans, private banking, wealth management, credit cards, and insurance. With over 98,000 employees and operations in 29 countries, RBC serves more than 20 million clients worldwide. Its historical roots date back to 1864, and it continues to be a major player in the global banking industry.
As of April 30, 2024, RBC holds total consolidated residential mortgages in Canada of $433 billion, which includes acquired HSBC Canada portfolio.
RBC is offering limited time special offers for mortgage seekers, such as:
Switching your mortgage to RBC, for a limited time could get you up to $5,700 in value. That’s a cash bonus of up to $3,500, a rebate in your switching fees of up to $1,100 and 55,000 Avion points when you apply for a mortgage before June 30, 2024.
You can also get up to $4,600 in cash and Avion Points with an RBC Mortgage if you apply before June 30, 2024, and meet some of the bank’s terms and conditions.
If you open a new RBC Homeline Plan® account, you may be eligible to receive the cash offer component based on the total principal amount in the mortgage segment of the RBC Homeline Plan. This offer is limited to personal clients and new residential mortgages/RBC Homeline Plan mortgage segment mortgages on owner-occupied residential dwellings only.
Whether you’re buying your first home or your next, getting pre-qualified is a great first step. RBC helps you pre-qualify in a minute so you’ll know how much home you can afford based on your financial situation. Plus, you’ll be eligible for a cash bonus of up to $3,500 and 55,000 Avion points (equivalent up to $1,100 in travel—enough to take you anywhere in North America), when you get an eligible mortgage by June 30, 2024.
RBC is a leading retail bank in Canada and monitors its residential mortgage and broader retail portfolios closely. The bank performs stress tests for dramatic movements in house prices, GDP, interest rates and unemployment rates.
To get the lowest mortgage rates, you must compare rates by different financial institutions. The best way to do that is comparison shopping. At LowestRates.ca, we help you get quotes from different mortgage providers so you can take the decision that fits your financial needs.
As a borrower, it is important for you to understand historical mortgage rates for gaining insights into the present rates and making well-informed decisions when purchasing real estate. Although mortgage rates may fluctuate due to economic and policy changes or inflation, recognizing their historical trends can help you determine the right time for you to buy a house or refinance a mortgage.
Historically, mortgage rates have gone through significant fluctuations over the last four years. When comparing mortgage rates, it’s essential to consider other factors like home prices and inflation. When rates are low, it’s an opportune time to lock in a mortgage, while higher rates may warrant waiting or exploring other options.
Generally speaking, historical mortgage rates provide valuable context for borrowers, allowing them to navigate the housing market more effectively and make financially sound choices.
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Here are a few ways to control your mortgage payments to help build equity in your home faster and save money on interest over the term of your mortgage:
Making Double-Up Payments
RBC’s Double-Up payment option allows you to prepay any amount between $100 and the equivalent of the principal and interest portion of your regular monthly mortgage payment on any or every payment date. The Double-Up payment is applied directly against the principal balance of the mortgage, which brings down the amortization of the mortgage and saves interest costs.
Making Principal Prepayments
If you wish to save on interest cost and pay down your mortgage faster, you can access different options that RBC has to offer for prepayments of mortgage principal amount. By choosing a closed mortgage, you can prepay up to 10% of the original principal amount once every year. The prepayment if applied directly to the principal mortgage. If you have an open mortgage, you can make a principal prepayment of $500 or as often as you like. In addition, you can make principal prepayments of any amount you wish on your mortgage principal at renewal time.
Increasing Your Monthly Payments
You can save interest cost by increasing your mortgage payment frequency. By selecting RBC’s accelerated weekly or bi-weekly payment option, you are making one additional monthly payment each year that will help pay off your mortgage faster. For instance, let’s take a mortgage of $350,000 with a fixed-rate term at 5%:
The monthly amount calculated for this mortgage comes to $2,035.62, for amortization period of 25 years. An amortization interest cost of $260,0684 was calculated for this amount.
Semi-monthly payment amount for this mortgage comes to $1,017.81 and the amortization reduces to 24 years, 11 months while interest cost goes down to $259,446.
Bi-weekly amount comes to $939.52, amortization now is 24 years, 11 months but interest cost is $257,331
Weekly amount would be $469.76, amortization goes down to 24 year, 10 months and interest cost is $256,767.
Accelerated bi-weekly amount would be $1,017.81 and amortization for this period would be 21 years, 5 months with interest cost $216,864
Accelerated weekly amount would be $508.91, amortization is 21 years, 5 months and interest cost paid for the amortization period is $216,384.
Looking for mortgage info? Check out our Home Buyers Guide.
As a general rule of thumb, potential borrowers must have a credit score of 650 or higher to qualify for a mortgage with a prime lender like RBC. However, it is best to speak to a RBC mortgage agent to see if you are eligible.
You can either call your RBC mortgage advisor to check your mortgage balance or simply log into the RBC Mobile App or website to access your mortgage account and check the mortgage balance yourself.
As a borrower, you have the right to negotiate for better rates. An RBC advisor will help workout the lowest rate available in the market. However, if you really want to compare who can offer the best rate to you, the way to go is to compare quotes from different lenders. LowestRates.ca can help you compare 50+ quotes from mortgage lenders.
Mortgage rate, especially variable rate mortgages, depend on the Bank of Canada’s policy interest rates. If the BOC makes a cut to its policy interest rate, RBC’s prime rate will do down and eventually variable rates will see reduction as well. Fixed rates are dependent on bond yields and the impact there is reciprocal.
Shivani Kaul
About the Author
Shivani Kaul is a content manager in the personal finance space.
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