{"id":2211,"date":"2026-10-17T08:02:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T13:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/2026\/10\/17\/variable-rate-rush-slowing-as-canadians-brace-for-rate-hikes\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T08:02:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T13:02:52","slug":"variable-rate-rush-slowing-as-canadians-brace-for-rate-hikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/2026\/10\/17\/variable-rate-rush-slowing-as-canadians-brace-for-rate-hikes\/","title":{"rendered":"Variable Rate Rush Slowing as Canadians Brace for Rate Hikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fixed mortgage rates continue their upward trajectory across Canada as inflation concerns mount, creating a pivotal moment for GTA borrowers evaluating their financing options.<\/p>\n<p>According to mortgage strategist Robert McLister, while lenders&#8217; funding costs haven&#8217;t dramatically surged this week, the pressure remains real. The market currently doesn&#8217;t anticipate the Bank of Canada&#8217;s first rate hike until January 2027, with five additional hikes totaling 125 basis points potentially coming through early 2028.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what&#8217;s shifting: fewer Canadians are chasing variable-rate mortgages. Data from Dominion Lending Centres Group\u2014the nation&#8217;s largest mortgage originator\u2014reveals that only 52.8% of prime borrowers chose variable rates this month, down from 57.1% in September. This decline reflects growing inflation anxiety and mounting concerns about future policy rate increases.<\/p>\n<p>The math, however, still favors floating for many borrowers. The projected 125-basis-point increase over 15 months represents only a 15-25 basis point premium over the typical fixed-rate spread. For most GTA homebuyers and renewing borrowers, that modest difference makes variable rates appear like reasonable odds.<\/p>\n<p>As oil prices surge and inflation fears persist, however, expect this calculus to shift. Read the full analysis at Financial Post to understand what&#8217;s driving these changes.<\/p>\n<p><!-- RealEstateToday Source Article --><\/p>\n<div style=\"display:none\" data-original-url=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/real-estate\/mortgages\/mortgage-rates\/fixed-rates-inch-upwards-amid-rising-inflation-concerns\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/real-estate\/mortgages\/mortgage-rates\/fixed-rates-inch-upwards-amid-rising-inflation-concerns\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the original article<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fixed rates edge upward as fewer Canadians bet on variable mortgages amid rising Bank of Canada rate hike expectations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[260,447,1155,630,213,212,1154],"class_list":["post-2211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-data","tag-bank-of-canada","tag-gta-real-estate","tag-home-financing","tag-inflation","tag-interest-rates","tag-mortgage-rates","tag-variable-vs-fixed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}