Household debt dipped in first quarter

Canadians should be thinking about what their finances would look like if interest rates were to rise

OTTAWA — The amount Canadians owe compared with their income ticked lower in the first quarter but remained near record levels as mortgage debt continued to climb.

Statistics Canada said Wednesday the amount of household credit market debt as a proportion of household disposable income slipped to 166.9 per cent in the quarter compared with 167.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.

That means that for every dollar of disposable income, Canadians owe about $1.67.

Economists and policy-makers, including the Bank of Canada, have raised concerns about household debt and see it as a key risk to the economy.

Low interest rates have fuelled the growth in household debt in recent years, but the central bank has started dropping hints that may be changing as the economy has improved.

Canadians should be thinking about what their finances would look like if interest rates were to rise, Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz said this week.

Royal Bank economist Laura Cooper said the cost of servicing debt has remained broadly unchanged in recent years, but households’ sensitivity to rate hikes is likely greater now than when rates have risen in the past.

“Nonmortgage debt tends to command higher borrowing rates and variable payments, leaving households increasingly vulnerable to a looming uptrend in interest rates,” Cooper wrote in a report.

Household income gained 0.9 per cent, Statistics Canada said, greater than the 0.7 per cent increase in household credit market debt.

Total debt, which includes consumer credit, and mortgage and nonmortgage loans, totalled $2.041 trillion in the first quarter. Mortgage debt represented 65.7 per cent of that, up from 65.6 per cent during the final three months of last year.

“While indebtedness has recently stabilized for Canada as a whole, it still remains elevated, leaving households particularly sensitive to rising rates,” TD Bank economist Diana Petramala said.

“Moreover, averages do not tell the full story, with risks still rising in Ontario.”

Household net worth at market value rose 2.2 per cent to nearly $10.534 trillion. Households borrowed $27.5 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis in the first quarter, down slightly from $27.6 billion in the previous quarter.

Mortgage borrowing increased $2.7 billion from the fourth quarter to $20.9 billion, while demand for consumer credit and nonmortgage loans fell $2.8 billion to $6.5 billion.

Statistic Canada’s report came as the Teranet — National Bank national composite house price index, which measures homes sold at least twice in their history, hit a new all-time high for a 16th consecutive month. The index gained 2.2 per cent last month, the largest gain for May in the 19year history of the index.