Young and Indebted Is Poloz’s New Fault Line in Canada Housing

Younger Toronto and Vancouver homeowners struggling with large mortgages are responsible for much of the risk in the nation’s housing market, Canada’s central bank says.

The share of indebted households with obligations exceeding 350 percent of gross income has climbed to 8 percent from 4 percent before the global crisis, the Bank of Canada said Tuesday from Ottawa. Debt at that level, which is concentrated among homeowners younger than 45, is keeping the risk of a sharp home-price correction elevated.