Looks like Ottawa sees some mortgage problems coming down the pipe even in these times of record low interest rates:
As the recession deepens, Canada’s big banks and its federal mortgage insurer are moving to head off a rise in defaults by homeowners.
Ottawa is launching a campaign to urge the cash-strapped to approach their banks for mortgage relief, as the banks adopt more flexible practices aimed at preventing borrowers from falling behind on payments. The measures by the banks and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the federal agency that guarantees mortgages, signal growing concern about increasing levels of household debt.
With house prices dropping, job losses rising and the economy not yet showing signs of recovery, both the government and lenders are pushing consumers to be proactive if they think they might have problems paying their debts.
Unfortunately we don’t seem to have many publicly available stats for mortgage debt in Canada, but I wonder how many ‘cash-strapped’ owners went in for the Government approved (but recently canceled) zero down 40 year CMHC mortgages to keep from being ‘priced out forever’?
The full article is at the Globe and Mail. Hat-tip to Observer for the link!
