Household debt refers to the money that individuals or families owe, typically accumulated through loans, mortgages, credit cards, or other forms of borrowing. It represents the total amount of money that a household owes to lenders or financial institutions and needs to repay over time.
Full definition
But the central bank has argued that the likelihood of
household debt levels becoming a serious problem remains low and the situation is likely to improve once the economy starts to recover.
Changing interest rates, new Canadian mortgage rules, and
higher household debt leaving much of the market uncertain.
These risks can be due to rapid credit and asset price growth,
rising household debt and leverage, or excessive liquidity.
With household debt at record levels, the central bank has to think carefully about whether lower interest rates would push the threat of a housing bust outside its comfort zone.
Take, for example, the reported $ 117 billion increase in
average household debt in the final three months of 2014.
As the economy gradually gains steam, consumers are taking out larger numbers of loans and slowly
increasing household debt, research shows.
Canadian
household debt grew 5 % in the first quarter of 2013 and we're not paying it off terribly quickly.
This is the seventh year in a row that debt repayment topped the list of financial priorities, yet
household debt continues to rise.
Overall household debt grew dramatically in the early 2000s, driven in large part by the subprime mortgage boom.
Unfortunately, we have no detailed information on the distribution of
household debt for investment housing.
Canadian
household debt relative to assets (19 %) and net worth (24 %) is below prior peaks of 20 % and 25 % respectively.
While the central bank is reluctant to raise rates too fast with $ 2.1 trillion in
outstanding household debt, increases are inevitable.
Meanwhile, Canadian
household debt reached another record high in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to the country's statistics agency, although the pace of growth slowed sharply.
On the domestic front,
elevated household debt levels continue to be a concern and would deter the central bank from cutting rates further.
Canadian
household debt hit another record high in the second quarter as demand for loans grew, and past data covering debt were revised sharply higher.
However, this is changing, and the increase in the level of
household debt over the past decade is a major shift, with significant knock - on implications for consumption.
So just how are mortgage delinquency rates so incredibly low at a time
when household debt levels relative to incomes have never been higher?
That seems to be popular reasoning these days as consumers have
more household debt than ever before.
Outstanding
household debt declined approximately $ 110 billion from the previous quarter, due in large part to a reduction in housing - related debt and credit card balances.
If
household debt doesn't follow that path, expect policy makers to try to do something about it.
In comparison, the next largest category of
household debt after mortgage debt and student loans at the end of 2013 was auto loans.
The growth of
gross household debt has seen the household sector's debt to income ratio on a gradually rising trend for much of the past decade.
Combining all of your higher - interest rate
household debt into one convenient payment may free up cash flow to help you tackle some of your other long - term financial goals.
Experts
expect household debt to grow, as credit card companies continue to loosen their standards after tightening them during the Great Recession.
His exact words were that we «must be vigilant» and not let rising levels of
household debt spiral out of control.
In this day and age of low interest rates and
unprecedented household debt levels this concept of millionaires living modestly is probably even more likely to be true.
Swedish household debt and house prices have grown rapidly since the late 1990s on the back of a robust economy, low inflation and interest rates, and wholesale funding including in foreign currency.
The short - term impact on the housing market is expected to be manageable, given that the majority of Canadian families are already taking a prudent approach in
managing household debts.
Phrases with «household debt»