Albertans Pay Off Their Mortgages Faster!

On March 20, 2008, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) released the results of their annual Mortgage Consumer Survey. This survey is conducted each fall to collect information on mortgage consumer behavior, attitudes and expectations. The survey focuses mostly on recent home purchasers, but also includes consumers renewing or refinancing their mortgage.

Eighty-two percent of Albertans surveyed say that they are going to pay off their mortgage as quickly as possible, quite often quicker than they initially planned. This is about four percent above the national average of seventy-eight percent.

One strategy that Albertans are using to accomplish this goal is accelerated payment structures. According to the survey, about fifty percent of Albertan mortgage holders are are making weekly or bi-weekly payments.

Albertans are also more apt to use a mortgage broker than the rest of the country – forty-one percent of Albertans used a broker in 2007, whereas thirty-three percent of Canadians on average consulted a mortgage broker.

To see more on CHMC’s annual Mortgage Consumer Survey, please visit the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation website.

Ask us how to take full advantage of the prepayment privileges on your mortgage!