Canadians are beginning to resume paying their mortgages, after many requested deferrals. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) broke down insured mortgage payment deferrals in August. At a national level, CMHC is seeing the rate of payment deferrals similar to the general market. Broken down by city, we see the most expensive markets are overrepresented. Even overrepresented, those higher rates seem relatively low compared to oil-driven markets.
Mortgage Payment Deferrals Across Canada
CMHC mortgage payment deferrals are falling, but they are still in-line with the general market. The CMHC reported mortgages on payment deferrals fell to 10.89% in August, down from 12.28% the previous month. Our estimate based on filings is 10.78% for the total mortgage market at Canadian banks. More bluntly, insured mortgage payments are deferred at a similar rate to the national average.
Canada’s Largest Real Estate Markets Are Still In Double Digits
Breaking down CMHC deferrals by market, we see the largest ones are mostly overrepresented. Toronto had 12% of mortgage payments deferred in August, Montreal 10%, and Vancouver 11%. Toronto is seeing payment deferrals much higher than the national average. Montreal is doing better, likely due to much more affordable prices. Vancouver is just slightly higher than the national number,