The Annual CAAMP Conference Highlights
At the end of November, a conference was held by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) in Toronto. It was a huge conference that drew more than 1600 mortgage professionals. Commentary and stats were provided by respected industry representatives. Also mentioned were highlights from a poll of 2000 Canadians conducted by research company, Maritz. Here are some of the more notable revelations:
On Mortgage Consumers:
Last year, one third (33%) of Canadians said they had a “good understanding” of what mortgage brokers do. This year, that number increased to 40%. Hopefully sites like Ratehub.ca had a helping hand in spreading the benefits of using a mortgage broker in Canada.
The median age of a broker customer is 36.
96% of consumers want post-sales communication from their broker. We broke down how people like to be contacted by their mortgage professional in our blog article, the Accessibility of Mortgage Brokers.
On average, it takes Canadians seven years less to pay off their mortgage than their initial amortization period using their available prepayment options.
Canadians say the number one reason for using a broker is to get a good mortgage rate. Here is a list of other consumer reasons.
Interest Rates:
“It is not normal to have 2% inflation and a 1% overnight rate”
>>> Stefane Marion, National Bank, implying that variable and short term rates should start to rise
Canadian Housing Bubble:
Canadian consumers that say there is one: 60%
Mortgage industry people that agree: 36%
Rates are at extraordinary levels (i.e. historic lows), which helps explain why we have a such a strong housing market. What we should be worried about is the record levels of home ownership we’re currently at, says Warren Jestin of Scotiabank.
How Canada differs from the US:
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institions (OFSI) Canada is constantly stress testing banks in the event of falling house prices. As long as people continue to be qualified by reasonable standards, then there is no housing bubble, says Laurentian Bank’s economist, Carlos Leitao. This represents a notable difference from the sub-prime lending that played lead to the American housing burst.