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weekender august 21 1993 p19 your money factors involved in locking in mortgage rates brian costello correspondent its all over this never ending decline in interest rates did indeed have an end its got to be time to lock your mortgage away for the longest period you can find thats what i heard the other day actually it was more like a question as yet another home owner was trying to decide what to do with their mortgage especially after seeing the canadian dollar come under heavy selling pressure in world markets there are only a few things the bank of canada can do to support our dollar the prime candidate is to jack up interest rates to entice for eign investors to convert their money to ours so they can buy canadian investments weve seen it happen before theres no reason why it cant happen again without question now will be a good time for many to switch out of the short term loans that have proven so rewarding into five year and longer mortgages that will allow a peaceful sleep but those contemplating a move like this should only do so after taking a close look at why rates and the dollar are where they are then carefully con sider the impact of any major changes before we look at the canadi an scene a few words about whats going on south of the border consumer prices in the united states showed virtually no increase in july compared to june in the last three months in fact us inflation rates aver age only 08 per cent on an annualized basis armed with these numbers and the belief that us presi dent clintons new budget will suck billions of dollars of spend ing out of the economy theres now great confidence that there will be no inflation fears in the us for some time inflation plays a major role in determining where interest rates are headed it clearly suggests that us interest rates can now fall one of the reasons why our dollar has weakened is the spread between canadian and us interest rates weve been slashing ours while theirs have held steady as a result canadian interest rates are closer to us rates than they have been in decades now though based on the us bond markets where bond yields are falling theres room for their interest rates to move lower that will take some of the pressure off our dollar and ease any need to push our rates higher other than for the odd short spurt to show the world we have the situation well in control remember when we had two other bouts of temporarily high interest rates the referen dum and the constitution con fusion well now we have an upcom ing election foreign investors will watch us carefully if it appears that we are throwing out so many promises that we wont have any hope of eliminating our government deficits foreigners will dump our dollar if it looks like we are showing some fiscal responsibility if it looks like we intend to cut gov ernment spending theyll give us a chance foreign investors arent really troubled by the sharp decline in canadian interest rates they know that we are world leaders in this field in fact even though our inter est rates have collapsed so too has inflation so much so that our real interest rates after subtracting inflation are still high we can afford to lower interest rates but we cant afford to increase them other than for short periods of time to show we are in control if we increase interest rates we will stifle an already anaemic economy real estate is a good example in july resale real estate sales slumped almost seven per cent from a year ago whats worse for the first two quarters sales are down almost nine per cent com pared to the first half of last year that in spite of far lower mortgage rates what do you think will happen if they raise mortgage rates a few buyers will jump in to beat the rate increases most will cancel any thoughts of buying the big problem is unemploy ment last year unemploy ment averaged 113 per cent most economic projections call for an average of 112 per cent this year and maybe 11 per cent in 1994 increase interest rates and we create no jobs at all after pushing rates this low afs program caters to high school students would you like to travel to a distant laiid taste different foods and meet new people well get ready because afs interculture canada can make it happen for you one goal of afs is to give flexible and adventurous high school students from ages 15 to 18 the opportunity they deserve to explore a whole new world abroad afs interculture canada is an international nonprofit organi zation that promotes crosscultural learning through worldwide exchange programs for a year a semester or a summer afs interculture canada will send you to any one of 35 different countries it you are a high school student who would like a taste of the extraordinary contact afs interculture canada toll free at 1800 36j4assio ottawa has found that the economy needs more i think it fully intended for the dollar to move to the 75cent level foreign buyers would find our prices so low that they would buy everything they could get their hands on expanding our exports is almost the only hope we have to get our economy turned on we wouldnt buy as much across the border and they would load up here in canada so you can expect the bank of canada to lend some support to our dollar but to lower inter est rates once again when the heat is off with no inflation on the hori zon long term mortgage rates will fall for sure then we can lock in at a lower rate than we can hope to find right now iii i were proud of the foundation weve built the jerretts wanted the new funeral home to be comfort able they needed a large building to accommodate all the people who depend on them but they wanted to keep their small funeral home atmosphere we were careful to select furnishings and wallcoverings that made people feel at home even the colours and the woodworking add a warmth and comfort we were able to incorporate coffee lounges and a childrens room innovations that mean so much to the fami lies they serve robin designs interior decorator the attention to detail in this new building is what will set it apart the quality of the outside brick and specially designed windows will eliminate street noise and filter the strong sun light the natural wood flooring and woodwork add a dignity that will look per fect for years to come by using only the best mate rials and custom acoustics a soundproof private atmo sphere will be assured for each family we have also met all the standards of accessibility for the phys ically challenged the jerrett family has dem onstrated their sensitivity to the needs of the various families they serve we were careful to design space to be appropriate for any size gathering a gracious open staircase and welcoming hearths are impressive features which contribute to a warm and comfortable feeling the abundant use of windows along with a central skylight allows natural light to radiate throughout the building michael spaziani architect inc architect the jerrett family has established a standard of service to which few funeral homes can compare were glad to be a part of their new chapel in north york opening this fall at 6191 yonge street until then we will be here to serve you at our original location 4661 yonge street our other locations are 1141 st clair ave w 660 kennedy rd toronto ontario m6e 1b1 scarborough ontario m1k 2b5 john a jerrett frances p jerrett jennifer jerrett jerrett funeral homes 6191 yonge street north york 2236050 i invak j4 it v vl- lktei4 kvll4fkbvtervrwwfcvketv i