{"id":17308,"date":"2016-02-02T14:01:02","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T19:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=17308"},"modified":"2016-02-02T14:01:02","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T19:01:02","slug":"meridian-credit-union-offers-1-year-mortgage-at-1-69","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=17308","title":{"rendered":"Meridian credit union offers 1-year mortgage at 1.69%"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Meridian credit union offers 1-year mortgage at 1.69%<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Spring mortgage wars start early, as member-owned lender makes new low offer to homebuyers<\/h3>\n

\"Meridian<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Meridian credit union just offered a one-year mortgage at 1.69 per cent. (Daniel Munoz\/Reuters)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Alternative lender Meridian has launched the first shot in the spring mortgage wars with a one-year fixed mortgage rate of 1.69 per cent.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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“As we are quickly approaching the busy spring home buying season, this is the perfect time for people to evaluate their home buying options by getting a pre-approval now,” the credit union said in a release Tuesday announcing the offer.<\/p>\n

The deal is the lowest mortgage rate currently on offer from any lenders, for any term, listed on\u00a0RateSupermarket.ca<\/a>. It also comes with a so-called 20\/20 prepayment ability, which means the borrower is able to pay off 20 per cent of the principal in any given year. The borrower can also increase the monthly payment up to 20 per cent of the\u00a0original payment plan each year.<\/p>\n

Competitive market<\/strong><\/p>\n

The move is a first strike in the battle for market share in the upcoming spring buying season. The big banks\u00a0have\u00a0raised their mortgage rates incrementally<\/a>\u00a0over the past 12 months in some cases, even as the Bank of Canada has twice slashed its benchmark rate, and yields in the bond market \u2014 where the banks borrow from to get money to loan out to mortgage buyers \u2014 are also getting cheaper.<\/p>\n

In recent years, mortgage lenders have been keen to cut their rates in the lead-up to the busy spring buying season in order to gain market share.<\/p>\n