Written by 11:55 AM General • 2 Comments Views: 15

FirstLine ARMs May Be Discontinued

FirstLinefirstline is reportedly suspending its variable-rate mortgages at the end of today.  “Economic conditions” are being blamed.

This news will affect FirstLine’s Basic ARM, Open ARM, and Matrix mortgages.

It will come as a major disappointment to mortgage planners.  FirstLine is one of the biggest broker-channel lenders in the country.  Some individual mortgage brokers do over half their volume with FirstLine.

These discontinuations are not expected to be permanent at this point.  On the other hand, there is no word on when the above offerings may return.

Hopefully it’s a short-term move and these products reappear once lending spreads (margins) fall back into line.  Sometimes that can take a while though.  MCAP discontinued their excellent FlexStar product eight months ago and it’s still not back.

FirstLine is owned by CIBC.

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Last modified: April 29, 2014

Robert McLister is one of Canada’s best-known mortgage experts. A mortgage columnist for The Globe and Mail, interest rate analyst and editor of MortgageLogic.news, Rob has been covering Canada's mortgage market since 2007.

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