Bank of Canada Lowers Rate Used in Mortgage Stress Tests | A key Canadian interest rate used by lenders to determine who can qualify for a mortgage has dropped for the first time in almost three years, potentially giving the country’s housing market a near-term boost.

The Bank of Canada lowered its 5-year conventional mortgage rate on Wednesday to 5.19%, from 5.34%, where it had been since May 2018. It’s the first decrease since August 2016. The rate is an indicative measure based on average price quotes from financial institutions.

Renewal-Shock Concerns are Fading for Canadian Mortgage Holders | Canadian homeowners set to renew their mortgages this year can rest a little easier about having to pay higher rates.

Rates to renew a five-year mortgage aren’t much higher than they were when the mortgages were taken out, according to National Bank research. That means “no payment shock” for the 17.4% of mortgages renewing in 2019, Matthieu Arseneau, deputy chief economist at the Montreal-based bank, said by phone

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s prediction of a mortgage slowdown has come true.

Mortgage balances rose 2.5 percent to C$208.5 billion ($160 billion) in the fiscal third quarter from a year earlier, the Toronto-based bank said Thursday in announcing earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.