Canadians end up paying off their mortgages in about two-thirds of the time originally intended, according to research from The Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals.
Looking at mortgages paid off over the past three years, the original
amortization length was roughly 18 years but, on average, homebuyers ended up with an
actual amortization length of just less than 12 years. In other words, we can handle debt pretty well, according to CAAMP's view.
Nonetheless, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tightened mortgage rules four times in the last five years amid concern that oversupply in some markets could lead to a sharp drop in prices.
The group feels the government's recent changes — raising the minimum down payment for mortgages insured through the
government-backed CMHC and lowering the amount of time
borrowers have to pay them back to 25 years (it was as high as 40
years only five years ago) — is overdone and is preventing many potential homebuyers from entering the market.