Leah Zlatkin quoted in the Toronto Star: ‘Mortgage rates are coming down. Should you break your mortgage to reduce your payments?’

If you renewed your fixed-rate mortgage in 2022 or 2023 you may be regretting it now. Fixed rates have been falling since October 2023, with five-year rates dropping as low as 3.79 per cent as of the end of November, according to Ratehub.

There is a way out: Even if you’re locked in, you can break your mortgage — effectively ending the contract before the end of your term — and refinance at a lower rate.

Unfortunately it will cost you, sometimes quite a lot. Is it worth it?

The answer depends on some serious math, says Leah Zlatkin, licensed mortgage broker and COO of Mortgage Outlet.

“Numbers don’t lie,” Zlatkin says. “A lot of people want to go with their gut, but your gut can be wrong. You need to look at the actual numbers and see where it makes sense and where you’re going to save the most.”