Canadians locking into fixed rate mortgages

Despite the latest Bank of Canada call, almost half of Canadians surveyed expect higher rates next year, according to a recent CIBC poll.

The poll conducted by Nielsen finds that nearly half of Canadians don't think low rates will last forever and expect mortgage rates to be higher a year from now. The poll also shows that Canadians are increasingly focused on moving to fixed-rate mortgages.

The key highlights of the poll include:

47 per cent of Canadians think mortgage rates will increase in the next 12 months, up from 38 per cent who felt that way last year;

48 per cent would choose a fixed rate mortgage if they had to make that decision today, the fourth year in a row that fixed mortgages have been the choice of Canadians;

31 per cent would choose a variable rate mortgage today; and

19 per cent were undecided as to which type of mortgage they would choose.

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