Notable News of the Week: May 4, 2012

Ratehub.ca not only aggregates mortgage rates in Canada, but mortgage and housing news from across the nation as well. Every Friday we sum up the most interesting headlines to keep you in-the-know.

Scotiabank to use NHL partnership to lure new customers – The Financial Post

Richard Waugh, CEO of Canada’s third largest bank – Scotiabank, is expecting their new marketing partnership with the NHL to bring in one million customers. Scotiabank scored success with their Scene movie campaign that is now used by 3.5 million Canadians. The Big Five are no strangers to leveraging sports sponsorships for marketing and branding. RBC was heavily involved with the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the PGA, while TD has purchased the naming rights to two NBA teams, Boston and formerly Orlando. Scotiabank has placed a lot of resources into their hockey marketing strategy in hopes of scoring a hat trick in customer acquisition – credit cards, debit cards, and mortgages.

Different life stages require different housing and financing options – Vancouver Sun

The type of housing you need is largely impacted by where you stand in life, whether you’re a young professional looking for your first home or a recent empty-nester. Statistics Canada observed that the age of home ownership peaks in the 40s and plateaus til the age of 65. After retirement age, home ownership declines.

Canadians banks are among the strongest in the world – The Financial Post

According to Bloomberg Markets Magazine, Canadian banks make up some of the strongest in the world. Canada’s conservative banking regulations helped shield our banks during the financial crisis of 2008. Often times, Canadian banking regulations will exceed the requirements used by the international community such as how much capital should be in equity.

Boomberg Markets’ second annual ranking of the world’s strongest banks:

                1. OCBC (Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.)
                2. BOC Hong Kong Holdings
                3. CIBC
                4. Toronto-Dominion Bank
                5. National Bank of Canada

First National Bank shows large mortgage market share gain – Newswire

First National, which as recent as February, had the seventh most mortgages on the books in Canada. The bank just released their first quarter results and showed an incredible 12% gain in year-over-year growth ($60.9 billion). Their mortgage originations also increased from $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion.

Albertans expect to be mortgage-free by 53 – The Calgary Herald

According Harris-Declma’s poll for the CIBC, Albertans are expecting to be mortgage-free at 53, unlike most Canadians who believe this will likely happen at age 55. So are Albertans idealistic or just better mortgage planners than the rest of Canada? The poll finds that 53% of Canadians who have paid off their mortgage attributed their success to budgeting and avoiding excessive spending; 49% reduce extra spending; 38% cancelled vacations. Other factors that contibuted to being mortgage free included making annual lump sum payments and increasing the amount and frequency of their regular mortgage payments.