Canadian mortgage growth is weakest in 20 years amid high rates
BNN Bloomberg
Canadians’ mortgage borrowing hit the lowest level since 2003 amid higher interest rates.
Households added a net $11.2 billion in mortgage debt in the first three months of the year, according to national balance sheet data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada. That’s the smallest increase in two decades.
The report suggests higher borrowing costs are weighing on many households’ ability to access credit, though residential real estate prices recovered during the quarter as inventory remained constrained.
The slowdown in the net growth in mortgage debt coincides with one of the Bank of Canada’s most aggressive ever campaigns to raise to borrowing costs. After declaring a conditional pause in January, policymakers boosted the benchmark overnight rate to 4.75 per cent last week as household expenditures continued to grow.
