CAAMP has released its annual mortgage report and it’s chock full of mortgage stats.  Here’s a rundown on the more notable ones:

• 5,250,000:  The number of Canadian home owners with mortgages.
• 29%:  The percentage of Canadian homeowners who got a new mortgage in the last 12 months.
• 86%:  The percentage of people renewing or refinancing that stayed with their existing lender.
• $136,000:  The average mortgagor’s equity.  This equity equals 51.7% of their home value on average.
• 22%:  The percentage of mortgagors who took equity out of their homes in the past 12 months.  People are spending more because last year it was 17%.
• $41,000:  The average equity that borrowers took out of their homes this year. That’s up 16% from last year. The most common reason for borrowing this equity?  Debt consolidation.
• 50%:  The ratio of new mortgages taken out in the last year with amortizations greater than 25 years.
• 5.41%:  The average Canadian’s mortgage rate.  Last year it was 5.56%.
• 0.40%:  The average interest rate improvement realized by people who refinanced in the past year.
• 1.59%:  The average discount off of bank-posted rates.
• 1.96:  The average number of quotes people get when shopping for a mortgage.
• 0.28%:  The percentage of Canadians who are 90 days or more past due on their mortgage.  That’s up just slightly from last year.
• 10%:  The approximate decline in mortgage approvals that CAAMP foresees in 2009.
• 36%:  The percentage of Canadians who are aware that insured 40-year and 100% LTV mortgages have disappeared.

Peoples’ favourite mortgage terms:

• 1-3 years:  29% of borrowers
• 4-5 year:  61% of borrowers
• Over 5 years:  10% of borrowers

CAAMP says there’s a noticeable trend in borrowers taking shorter terms when compared to last year.

There’s also a big trend towards variable rates.  40% of mortgages were variable in the past year.  In CAAMP’s 2007 report the number was just 21%.  CAAMP says that’s because “consumers may be expecting interest rate reductions.”  We’d also like to think they’re becoming more educated about the long-term advantage of variable rates.

Where did people get their new mortgages this year?

• Major banks:  47%
• Mortgage brokers:  35%
• Credit Unions:  11%
• Other:  6%

Thanks to CAAMP economist Will Dunning for putting together this wealth of data.