TransUnion: Average mortgage balance in Canada rises five per cent
TORONTO — TransUnion Canada says the average amount owing on mortgages was up nearly five per cent in the second quarter, even though a change in Ontario regulations last spring appears to have reduced the volume of home sales.
The credit monitoring agency says the average mortgage balance in this year’s second quarter was $198,781, up 4.8 per cent from that period last year.
TransUnion says the increased mortgage balance has been driven by rising home prices.
The average new-mortgage balance in the first quarter of 2017 — the most recent reported data — was up eight per cent from the same time last year at $280,093, despite a 10 per cent decline in mortgage orginations, or new home loans.