Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
Subscribe to Brandon Donnelly
>4.2K subscribers
Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
Subscribe to Brandon Donnelly
>4.2K subscribers
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyWhen interest rates are low, who cares the most?
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyWhen interest rates are low, who cares the most?
https://twitter.com/NewsLambert/status/1667548612040052737?s=20
When interest rates are low, people generally want to buy more highly-levered assets, such as real estate. This, of course, makes perfect sense, because lower rates mean more buying power. But how badly someone wants to buy more real estate should, at least in theory, depend on their particular situation.
If you're buying a pre-construction home, the current rate should matter less than what it might be in the future when it comes time to close (usually you can only lock in a rate for so long). That said, lower rates can help people feel richer because it buoys the value of their other assets/investments. So in this regard, low rates do help the pre-construction market.
On the other hand, if you're buying a home to immediately close on, then current rates matter a great deal. This is the rate that you are going to be paying. However, in Canada, the typical term for a fixed-rate mortgage is 5 years. Meaning that after 5 years the rate resets to whatever market is at that time. So eventually, the mortgage does become an adjustable-rate one.
In the US, this isn't the case. The most popular mortgage is a 30-year fixed-rate loan, meaning the rate stays the same for the entire 30-year period. What this means is that Americans should -- again, in theory -- want to buy more real estate -- the most -- when rates are low. That's the time to back up the truck and lock in a sweet rate for the next three decades.
https://twitter.com/NewsLambert/status/1667548612040052737?s=20
When interest rates are low, people generally want to buy more highly-levered assets, such as real estate. This, of course, makes perfect sense, because lower rates mean more buying power. But how badly someone wants to buy more real estate should, at least in theory, depend on their particular situation.
If you're buying a pre-construction home, the current rate should matter less than what it might be in the future when it comes time to close (usually you can only lock in a rate for so long). That said, lower rates can help people feel richer because it buoys the value of their other assets/investments. So in this regard, low rates do help the pre-construction market.
On the other hand, if you're buying a home to immediately close on, then current rates matter a great deal. This is the rate that you are going to be paying. However, in Canada, the typical term for a fixed-rate mortgage is 5 years. Meaning that after 5 years the rate resets to whatever market is at that time. So eventually, the mortgage does become an adjustable-rate one.
In the US, this isn't the case. The most popular mortgage is a 30-year fixed-rate loan, meaning the rate stays the same for the entire 30-year period. What this means is that Americans should -- again, in theory -- want to buy more real estate -- the most -- when rates are low. That's the time to back up the truck and lock in a sweet rate for the next three decades.
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
No comments yet