Mortgage borrowing hits record in the second quarter, Statistics Canada says

OTTAWA —
Statistics Canada says mortgage borrowing hit a record in the second quarter as the amount Canadians owe relative to their income climbed higher.

The agency says on a seasonally adjusted basis that household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income rose to 173.1 per cent in the quarter compared with 172.6 per cent in the first quarter.

In other words, there was $1.73 in debt for every dollar of household disposable income.

The increase came as total credit market borrowing on a seasonally adjusted basis rose to $63.8 billion in the second quarter, more than double the amount in the first quarter. The rise was driven by a record $57.2 billion in mortgage loans, while demand for non-mortgage loans was $6.6 billion.

The total stock of credit market debt, which includes consumer credit, and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, totalled $2.53 trillion including $1.74 trillion in mortgage debt and $797.7 billion in non-mortgage loans.

The household debt service ratio, measured as total obligated payments of principal and interest on credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income, fell to 13.32 per cent in the quarter compared with 13.45 per cent in the first quarter.