Household debt rises, but more slowly: StatsCan

Amid rising interest rates, Canadian households kept adding debt in June, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

Total household credit liabilities rose by 0.8% in June, an increase of $21.4 billion to $2.76 trillion, the national statistical agency reported.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, total household borrowing was up 0.6% in June, down from 0.7% growth in May.

Mortgage debt rose by $18.0 billion in June, up 0.9% to $2.04 trillion in June, StatsCan said.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, households’ mortgage debt grew by 0.7% in June, which also marked a slowdown from the 0.8% increase in May.

The annual growth rate for mortgages also slowed to 9.6%, StatsCan said, as the housing market showed signs of cooling.

For instance, the volume of existing home sales was down by 10.3% in June, and average sales prices dropped for the fourth consecutive month, it noted.

Additionally, StatsCan reported that non-mortgage borrowing was also up in June. Overall, non-mortgage loan debt grew by $3.4 billion (up 0.5%) in the month to $714.5 billion.

StatsCan said that credit card debt held at the banks was up 1.6% and home equity lines of credit rose by 0.6%.

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.