Canadians Confident with their Mortgages

Canadian mortgage holders have told the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) in its fall 2013 survey that they're comfortable with their mortgage debt levels and consider mortgages to be a form of “good debt.”

This level of comfort may be due to the fact that Canadians believe they’re in control of their mortgages – taking aggressive actions to pay them down, leveraging their equity to consolidate debt or make new investments, taking advantage of low interest rates and increasingly turning to mortgage brokers rather than major banks for their mortgage needs.

The Annual State of the Residential Mortgage Market in Canada report, released late last month, contains some interesting information and statistics pertaining to Canadians’ mortgage views and borrowing habits.

Key highlights from the new report include:

• Mortgage brokers are gaining share in the overall mortgage market compared to traditional financial institutions. Among all new mortgages obtained this year, 40% were obtained through a mortgage broker and 42% from a bank. Overall, mortgage broker share increased from 25% to 28% in the past year
• Confidence in the market is strong. Less than 10% of Canadians expect that a housing bubble will burst, though the expectation is stronger among younger people
• 80% of homeowners selected at least one of the following emotions when asked about their mortgages: comfortable, confident, content, secure
• More than 80% of Canadian homeowners have at least 25% equity in their homes
• Of the new homes purchased in the past year, 57% were purchased by first-time buyers
• 68% of Canadians feel mortgage debt is “good debt”
• For mortgages repaid in the past two decades, actual repayment periods have been 30% shorter than original contracted periods
• This year, 38% of mortgage holders took steps to accelerate their repayments and shorten their amortizations

The report also covers the role housing has played in Canada’s recovery from the 2008/2009 recession.

As always, if you have questions pertaining to your specific mortgage needs, I’m here to help!