Mortgage Rates in Victoria

The Victoria mortgage market

Despite its relatively small size, Victoria, British Columbia is one of Canada’s highest-priced housing markets, alongside the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas.

The city is British Columbia’s capital and ranks as the 15th largest city in Canada. Also known as “The Garden City,” Victoria is home to a disproportionately large retiree population thanks to its temperate climate. In fact, 6.4% of the population of Victoria and the surrounding area is at least 80 years of age. That makes for a larger-than-average pool of reverse mortgage customers.

Given the higher-than-average home values in the city, lenders and brokers compete aggressively for mortgages due to the proportionately larger commissions.

All that competition means Victoria mortgage shoppers have access to lower-than-average rates.

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* Data as of October 2020. Assumes 1.89% (the lowest nationally available 5-year fixed uninsured mortgage rate), down payments as stated and 30-year amortization.

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Victoria mortgage rate trends

Here’s a look at how Victoria mortgage rates have stacked up over the years with the lowest widely advertised national rates

Popular Victoria mortgage brokers & lenders

For those who don’t have the time or know-how, a mortgage broker can provide key benefits.

Many bring years of experience and expertise to the table. Furthermore, most provide relative unbiased advice and recommendations for mortgage products and solutions suited to your personal circumstances.

Notice we said “many” and “most.” Like any industry, there are some players who fail to go “above and beyond.” Some may work with just a handful of lenders, thereby limiting your options. Others may steer you into terms that pay them more. Always be sure to do careful due diligence when selecting a mortgage broker or brokerage. Check their reviews and Google them for complaints.

The biggest broker networks servicing the Victoria area include Dominion Lending Centres, TMG The Mortgage Group and VERICO.

For those with the express goal of securing the lowest mortgage rate, there are a number of reputable deep-discount online brokers to consider. Some of the top deep-discount brokers servicing Victoria include:

• intelliMortgage Inc.
• True North Mortgage
• Butler Mortgage
• Sigma Mortgage
• MortgagePal
• Spin Mortgage

Mortgage brokers servicing Victoria are regulated by the BCFSA Registrar of Mortgage Brokers.

Victoria’s largest mortgage lenders include:

• RBC
• TD Canada Trust
• Scotiabank
• Bank of Montreal
• CIBC
• National Bank
• HSBC
• First National
• MCAP
• Vancity
• Coast Capital Savings
• Island Savings
• Coastal Community Credit Union

All are reasonably competitive, but not all offer the same level of rate transparency. For the Big 6 national banks, we have to estimate discretionary rates, for example, because they don’t advertise their true best offers. You can view both official advertised rates and estimated discretionary rates on this site to see which lender has the leading mortgage rates.

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Victoria credit unions

Although often overlooked by many mortgage shoppers, Victoria credit unions can also offer competitive rate options. They’re not always known to have market-leading mortgage rates, but from time to time they promote rate specials that beat out all of the other competition.

Credit unions can be especially useful for those who can’t easily qualify at some of the other mortgage lenders, including those with higher debt ratios, more unique properties and harder-to-prove income. Some Victoria credit unions even offer 35-year amortizations, whereas 30 years is the maximum available from most lenders, including all top banks.

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What drives Victoria's mortgage outlook?

Victoria home prices are influenced by many of the same national and international factors that affect Canada’s other housing markets.

This includes capital restrictions in countries like China and Iran, global GDP and, in 2020, the pandemic.

Victoria home prices managed to weather the COVID storm reasonably well, despite a sharp drop in sales in the spring caused by the nationwide lockdown and other social distancing restrictions.

Yet, thanks to pent-up demand and limited supply, Victoria home prices remained stable and resumed growth mode by the summer, which in turn drove mortgage growth.

Despite the surprising strength of the Victoria housing market through the fall of 2020, the outlook into 2021 remains murky.

Like most other regions, housing and mortgage demand are expected to remain weak into 2021 before starting to recover by late 2021 or 2022.

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Comparing the best Victoria rates vs. banks

There’s barely been a better time to compare Victoria mortgage rates. In a low- and falling-rate environment (as of October 2020), mortgage shoppers do well to arm themselves with basic knowledge of current market rates, which can change by the day.

Mortgage rate comparison websites, such as RATESDOTCA, put hundreds of mortgage providers at your fingertips, along with current rates that are updated multiple times daily.

Comparison websites are especially useful in empowering rate shoppers to find mortgage providers other than the big banks. Some of these lenders are highly reputable and extremely competitive, but they’d never be found by average borrowers who don’t use such a site.

Consumers who compare rates online are also likely to learn that they probably won’t get the lowest mortgage rates by dealing with their home bank.

The difference between a big-bank mortgage rate and one from another financial institution can be a quarter of a percentage point or more, which translates into thousands of dollars of interest over the term of the mortgage.

The best mortgage rates in Victoria are typically available during the busy spring homebuying season. That’s when many lenders, including the Big 6 banks, roll out an array of mortgage promotions.

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