September is traditionally a busy month for brokers, but summer’s end has been slow for some following a busy August that saw rate-holders flood the market.
September is traditionally a busy month for brokers, but summer’s end has been slow for some following a busy August that saw rate-holders flood the market.
“Most definitely,(business) has calmed down; it seems that September has really died down,” Robert Floris of Mortgage Architects told MortgageBrokerNews.ca “Usually -- and I’ve been doing this for 24 years -- the old rule of thumb is that September is when we go back to work. It’s not like that this September.”
Floris enjoyed a busy August, which he attributed to clients locking rates in for fear of having to pay higher interest the longer they waited.
“I had a great August – everybody was battling to get in but my September is definitely tempered,” Floris said. “That has to do with how rates have fluctuated leading up to September.”
As for when the market is expected to pick back up, Floris wonders if it’s a matter of “if” and not “when.”
“It appears to me that things are dying down in the purchase market,” Floris said. “It’s a combination of everything – the rates increasing. Based upon that, affordability and Jim Flaherty’s rules, it makes everything costlier.
“We’ve had a strong market since 1997 and I’m wondering if the steam is running out.”
Still, not every mortgage professional has felt the effects.
“I’m not expecting things to slow down; naturally, things start to slow down this time of year,” Jonathan Tillger of Dominion Lending Centres Mortgage Village told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “I try not to judge things on a two month basis; I don’t see foresee anything slowing business down.”
However, Tillger admits that he didn’t rush to take advantage of rate holds before the impending hike.
“I had some pre-approvals, not a huge number,” he said. “I didn’t market as strongly to take advantage of the pending increases.”
