STABILITY IN THE CANADIAN MORTGAGE MARKET
May 2011
Significant Statistics
There is currently $855 billion in mortgages on principal residences and $215 billion in
Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC)
-Individuals with HELOCs only have an average 65 per cent equity in their homes
-HELOC prevalence is highest among middle age homeowners
-Equity takeouts amount to $26 billion annually, with most funds used for renovations ($9.4 billion), followed by investments ($5.0 billion)
-The average down payment for a home purchased in the last 12 months was 30%, up from 26% for homes purchased two years ago
-Among all borrowers, 63 per cent have fixed rate mortgages, 30 per cent have variable rate mortgages and 6 per cent have a combination of both
-Less than a quarter (22 per cent) of all borrowers have amortization periods longer than 25 years
-34 per cent of those who most recently renewed or renegotiated their mortgages did so before their term expired. The average time to pay off a mortgage is 7.4 years less than the original amortization
-200,000 homeowners paid off their mortgages in the last 12 months
-The average mortgage interest rate discount is 1.44 per cent for those who chose a five year fixed rate mortgage in the last twelve months with the average mortgage rate being 4.04%
-Of those who renewed their mortgages in the last twelve months, 65 per cent are paying lower rates than previously
- 66 per cent of all mortgage borrowers can tolerate a monthly mortgage increase of $300 or more
-Among borrowers who took out a new mortgage in the last 12 months, 27% obtained it from a mortgage broker. Overall mortgage broker share stands at 23%
-Canadian appetite for home buying has returned to pre-recession levels, following a slide over the past three surveys. Almost 60 per cent respondents thought that now was a good time to buy
-Optimism is returning to the market with almost half (46 per cent) of those questioned saying that they expect prices to rise
