Summertime mortgage borrowing heated up

Household borrowing continued to rise in July, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The national statistical agency reported that total household credit liabilities were up by 0.3% ($8.3 billion) in July, to $2.975 trillion.

Household mortgage debt grew by 0.3% in the month, which StatCan noted marked “a slight acceleration compared with June” when mortgage borrowing rose by 0.2%.

Other kinds of borrowing also increased by 0.3% in July, rising $2.5 billion, the agency said.

However, this marked a slight slowdown in the growth rate for non-mortgage debt, as these liabilities rose by 0.4% in June.

StatCan said home equity lines of credit edged up by 0.2% in the month, and credit card debt was up by 0.3%, which represented a deceleration from the growth rates reported for June.

The other forms of non-mortgage borrowing rose by 0.4% in July.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.