Four banks are lowering residential mortgage rates

Four of Canada’s biggest banks are once again lowering residential mortgage rates at a time when falling government bond yields are cutting funding costs for financial institutions. Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal are all trimming their posted rates on popular five-year fixed-rate mortgages by 0.1 percentage point to 5.49 per cent among other reductions. This is the second time that major banks have lowered that benchmark consumer rate in just over a week. The last time they did so was on May 19 when rates for five-year closed mortgages fell by 0.1 percentage point to 5.59 per cent. RBC, TD, Scotiabank and BMO are also trimming interest rates for a number of other residential mortgage products, including various special offers. This latest round of mortgage rate cuts was prompted by falling yields on government bonds across a range of terms, said TD spokeswoman Barbara Timmins in an e-mail.