Home Trust Mortgage Rates & Reviews

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Home Trust is Canada's largest trust company. Founded in 1987, Home Trust has been providing financial services to Canadians, with product offerings that now range from mortgages to credit cards, and even GICs and savings accounts. Other companies that are part of the Home Capital Group include Home Bank and Oaken Financial. Home Capital Group was acquired by Smith Financial in November 2022 for $1.7 billion.

Home Trust is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Halifax. As a federally regulated mortgage lender, Home Trust mortgages are available across Canada.

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Home Trust lets you borrow up to a loan-to-value ratio of 80%. This means that a 20% down payment is required. Available term lengths range from 1 year up to 5 years, with a maximum amortization period of 30 years. You can choose to make either monthly or biweekly mortgage payments, and the annual prepayment allowance is 20% of your mortgage principal.

Home Trust offers two types of fixed rate mortgages: an alternative Classic mortgage and a prime Accelerator mortgage. Home Trust's Classic mortgage is a conventional uninsured mortgage, while their Accelerator is a high-ratio insured mortgage.

Home Trust’s Accelerator mortgage is meant for prime customers. Home Trust describes this as someone that has an established credit history. It would also include first-time home buyers, newcomers to Canada, and those purchasing a home.

The difference between a conventional uninsured mortgage and a high-ratio insured mortgage would be the restrictions that come with insured mortgages. CMHC rules around insured mortgage eligibility means that you can't get an insured mortgage for homes with a purchase price of $1 million or more, the maximum amortization allowed is 25 years, as well as set restrictions on debt-to-income ratios.

In exchange for this, Home Trust requires a down payment of as little as 5% on their prime Accelerator mortgages. This is a 5% minimum down payment on homes of $500,000 or less. For homes between $500,000 and $1 million, the portion between $500,000 and $1 million requires a down payment of 10%, and 5% on the portion under $500,000. Insured mortgages also usually have lower mortgage rates compared to uninsured mortgages. However, you’ll need to pay CMHC insurance premiums, or purchase mortgage default insurance from Sagen or Canada Guaranty. This will cost between 2.8% to 4% of your mortgage amount.

Home Trust’s Classic mortgage is considered to be their “alternative” or subprime mortgage. It's meant for those with no credit history or a bad credit score, self-employed borrowers, or those who can’t qualify for a prime mortgage based on their financial situation. For Home Trust’s Classic mortgage, a minimum down payment of 20% is required.

You can't borrow money to make your down payment, but you can use gifted funds as a down payment. Home Trust requires you to have a down payment gift letter form if you'll be using gifted funds as a down payment on your Home Trust mortgage.

Home Trust Classic vs. Accelerator Fixed Mortgages

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Home Trust’s variable rate mortgage is only available for their Classic (alternative) mortgage. This means that you’ll need to make a down payment of at least 20% or have an LTV ratio of 80% or less.

Home Trust’s variable mortgage rate is based on their prime rate. As of October 23rd, 2024, Home Trust's prime rate is 5.95%.

Current Home Trust Prime Rate: 5.95%

Last Changed: October 23rd, 2024

Prime customers with Home Trust's Accelerator mortgage can increase their regular mortgage payment by up to 20%. Subprime borrowers with a Classic mortgage cannot increase their mortgage payment amount during their term. Instead, Classic mortgage borrowers will need to wait until the end of the term to make changes to their mortgage payment amount.

Home Trust allows monthly, bi-weekly, and accelerated bi-weekly payments. An accelerated payment frequency pays off your mortgage faster. You can also make a lump-sum payment, up to 20% of your original principal balance, once per year. Going over this annual 20% limit will incur mortgage prepayment penalties, which is either 3 months' of interest or an interest rate differential (IRD).

Accelerator mortgages can be broken or repaid early, or the annual prepayment limit can be surpassed, as long as you pay the mortgage penalty. Classic mortgages have a bona fide sales clause, which means that they can only be broken if you have sold the home. Prepayment penalties will still apply.

Home Trust may reimburse some or all of the mortgage penalty if your Home Trust mortgage was repaid early in order to buy a new home. You must have a new Home Trust mortgage within 120 days in order to be eligible for reimbursement of the penalty.

Home Trust will send out a renewal offer around 45 days before your maturity date. You do not need to re-qualify for your mortgage with Home Trust. If you renew your mortgage early, you can lock-in your rate and benefit from Home Trust's 30-day rate guarantee. If rates fall in the 30 days prior to your maturity date, you'll get the lowest rate available during that period.

Home Trust charges a 1% commitment fee if you want to switch to Home Trust for their Classic mortgage. There is no fee for Home Trust's Accelerator mortgage. It takes around 5 to 20 business days to switch your mortgage to Home Trust.

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Available in all provinces except Quebec, the Home Trust Equityline Visa is a secured credit card that is tied to your home equity. The credit limit is up to 80% of your home's value, less outstanding mortgages, and can range from $20,000 up to $1 million. The interest rate ranges from 7.99% to 14.99%, and there are no foreign exchange fees if you use your Home Trust credit card for foreign currency transactions.

In order to get an Equityline Visa, Home Trust will need to perform a title search. This will cost $35. Home Trust also charged a 2% commitment fee on the approved credit limit.

If you're looking to get cash back rewards and a credit card with no forex fees or annual fee, then the Home Trust Preferred Visa Credit Card could be an option for you. Having no foreign exchange fees is a feature that not many Canadian credit cards offer. You’ll also get 1% cash back on your purchases.

A secured credit card is used to help those with bad credit rebuild their credit. Your credit limit is the amount of money that you put as a deposit, which can range from $500 up to $10,000. Your security deposit is also insured by the CDIC.

The no annual fee version of Home Trust's secured credit card has a 19.99% interest rate. If you want a lower rate of 14.90%, you'll need to pay an annual fee of $59.

GICs and savings accounts offered by Home Trust and Home Bank are only available through deposit brokers or through your financial advisor. With the Home Trust High Interest Savings Account (HISA), your deposit is CDIC insured. It requires a minimum deposit of $1,000. Both registered and non-registered accounts are eligible, which means that the HISA can be a tax-free savings account (TFSA) or other registered plan.

Home Trust and Home Bank GICs require a minimum deposit of $5,000 for non-registered accounts. Term lengths range from 1 year up to 5 year GIC terms, with monthly, semi-annual, or annual interest payments. RRSPs and TFSAs have a lower investment requirement of $1,000. RRIFs require a minimum deposit of $10,000. 1-year cashable GICs are also available, with interest being payable after an initial 30-day period, and a minimum deposit of $5,000.

Oaken Financial is Home Trust's direct-to-consumer financial institution. You can directly open a savings account or buy GICs from Oaken. For GICs, Oaken has a minimum deposit of just $1,000, with terms from 30 days to 5 years. Oaken savings accounts and GICs are eligible for CDIC insurance coverage.

Best 5-Year Fixed Mortgage Rates in Canada

Select Mortgage Term:

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2-Yr

3-Yr

4-Yr

5-Yr

Fixed

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Home Trust and Home Capital Group have received numerous awards for their strong presence in Canada’s mortgage industry. Home Trust won the Bank Lender of the Year at the Mortgage Awards of Excellence in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Home Trust is also on the list of 2021 Best Workplaces in Ontario and Best Workplaces in Financial Services & Insurance.

While Home Trust is not BBB accredited, they currently have a B- rating. Home Trust has the following reviews:

• Google Reviews: 2.6/5
• Insureye: 2.6/5
• Trustpilot: 2.6/5
• Glassdoor: 3.8/5