58% of Canadians have a mortgage.. is that a big number?

Saw this article in the Montreal Gazette quoting a National Housing Survey.   It says 58.9% of Canadian homeowners have a mortgage.  Slightly up from the 57.9% of 2006 census.

So does this mean mortgage Canadians are taking bigger mortgages?  Or are we borrowing for longer periods of time? Probably, yes…. but we are also becoming more financially savvy.  Experts are finally recognizing that Canadians are taking advantage of the record low rates to consolidate our debts.   Something I have been preaching for the past several years.  Borrowing at lower rates means you save money.

Here’s some other info:

• over 40% of Canadians have no mortgage.
• more than 30% of all household debt is non-mortgage… (credit cards, unsecured lines of credits, car loans, etc)
• Canadians are conservative… 79% of all mortgages have a fixed rate. (CAAMP stats 2012)
• for all homeowners, equity is equal to 70% of the value of housing. (CAAMP stats 2012).  In other words, Canada has only leveraged or borrowed 30% of the equity in their homes.
• mortgage arrears are at or near the all-time historical low levels… 0.33% (CAAMP Stats 2012)

Add it all up and it seems Canadians are managing their mortgage debts very well.   Congrats Canada!

Your best interest is my only interest.

As always, I welcome your comments, calls and questions.

Steve Garganis 416 224 0114 steve@mortgagenow.ca