While rates have been steadily climbing for variable mortgages, fixed mortgage rates have been moving in the opposite direction.
Certain lenders and national brokerages have been gradually dropping rates for select terms since the start of the month. Average nationally-available deep-discount 5-year fixed mortgage rates are now about 20 basis points lower compared to earlier in the month, according to data from MortgageLogic.news.
The move follows the recent decline in the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield, which typically leads fixed mortgage rates.
The 5-year bond yield closed at 3.05% on Monday, bouncing back slightly from a 5-month low of 2.80% reached last week. Still, yields are down from about 3.40% four weeks ago and the 14-year high of 3.89% reached in October.