A new analysis suggests Canadian non-mortgage debt rose to its highest level in nearly a decade during the second quarter.
The latest report of Canadian debt trends by TransUnion found the average consumer’s non-mortgage debt load rose to $26,221 in the second quarter.
That’s up 0.74% from the first quarter of 2012 and up 2.41% from a year earlier.
The credit reporting firm said that’s the highest average debt per person it has seen since it began tracking the variable in 2004.
TransUnion says there was a big increase in auto loans, partly offset by less money drawn on lines of credit.
The average credit-card debt was down from a year ago but up from the first quarter.
A moderately encouraging sign was that delinquency or default levels remained low across the board.
Debt loads on lines of credit were down 0.4% compared to the second-quarter of 2011, and dropped 2.37% from the previous quarter.
Average credit card debt declined 0.93% year-over-year, but was up 2.7% compared to the first quarter of 2012.
Auto loans saw the biggest increases, up 13.25% year-over-year and 3.67% from the first quarter. But defaults were on the decline.
Last month, another consumer credit reporting agency, Equifax Canada reported that consumer indebtedness, excluding mortgage debt, grew 3.1% year-over-year in the second quarter, down from 4.4% in the same period of 2011.
The Equifax study also found that high-interest credit card debt fell by 3.8% in the quarter and consumer bankruptcies were down 4.5% from a year earlier. Meanwhile, bank loans and lines of credit showed very moderate growth compared to a year ago.
Consumers have taken advantage of ultra low interest rates since the 2008-9 recession to heap on low-cost debt.
With household debt at an all-time high above 150%of after-tax income, the Bank of Canada has declared it the number-one domestic risk to the economy.
