Canada's Housing Bubble

Jan. 16 2011 CTV.ca

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is expected to introduce new regulations on Monday designed to reduce Canadians' skyrocketing household debt levels.

Flaherty will announce the new measures at a news conference scheduled for 8 a.m., before North American markets open.

CTV News has learned that Flaherty will unveil three new rules:

• Mortgage amortization periods will be reduced to 30 years from 35 years.
• The maximum amount Canadians can borrow to refinance their mortgages will be lowered to 85 per cent from the current 90 per cent.
• The government will withdraw its insurance backing on lines of credit secured on homes, such as home equity lines of credit.

According to a government official, the rules are aimed "at encouraging responsible lending and borrowing and encouraging people to increase their home equity."

"The rules are designed to significantly reduce interest payments to help Canadians get rid of their mortgages before they retire," CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported Sunday evening.

The new rules comes on the heels of a Bank of Canada announcement that Canadians' domestic debt burdens had hit the highest levels on record. The bank said earlier this month that the ratio of household debt to disposable income has reached 147 per cent.

Canadian household debt is now at $1.4 trillion, while mortgage delay payments have increased by 50 per cent," Fife said.

"In fact, the International Monetary Fund says household debt is the number one risk to the Canadian economy."