Canadians are paying down mortgages faster

A new report released by CIBC World Markets shows that Canadians are paying down their mortgages a lot faster than they’re being credited for. The report shows that homeowners are taking advantage of record-low interest rates to speed up their mortgage payments, and shorten amortization periods. Two major highlights of the report: 30-40% of households with mortgages are accelerating payments 40-50% of mortgage borrowers are estimated to have 20-year (or less) amortization periods, lower than the 25-year standard That means the debt-service ratio in the Canadian mortgage market — what it costs to carry a mortgage as a share of disposable income — is 7.3…