Article By: Vittorio Oliverio

The Canadian Residential Mortgage Market During Challenging Times

April 2009

Significant Statistics

• Residents in provinces who have felt the greatest impact due to the economic downturn are surprisingly the most postive about the current housing market. Sixty-three per cent of Ontarians, 62 per cent of Albertans and 64 per cent of British Columbians believe that now is a good time to purchase a home.

• While one-third of Canadians expect prices to fall, Saskatchewan residents are most optimistic about house pricing with 26 per cent believing values will go up.

• Of those who financed ot renewed their mortgage duriong the past 12 months, over a third (36 per cent) obtained variable rate terms, up from 24 per cent of those surveyed in CAAMP's fall 2008 report.

• Of all Canadian mortgage holders, 68 oer cent have fixed rate mortgages, 28 per cent have variable and only five per cent hold combination mortgages. Fixed rate mortgags are most common among those aged 18-34 years (71 per cent), while Canadians aged 55 years or older are most likely to secure adjustable rates (35 per cent).

• The majority of mortgages (83 per cent) have amortization periods of up to 25 years and a minority of mortgages (17 per cent) have amortization periods of more than 25 years.

• Roughly 91 million homes are owned in Canada. The estimated value of these homes in $ 2.67 trillion and the total outstanding mortgage principalon these homes is estimated at $ 739 billion. This means that Canadian homeowners have about $ 1.93 trillion in home equity, which amounts to 72.3 per cent of the total value of their homes.

• Home equity postions in the Canadian market are about 67 per cent greater than in the United States. The US Federal Reserve reports that of the more that 75 million Americans home owners, the average equity holding is 43 per cent which is in contrast to Canada's average of 72 per cent equity in their homes.