Slower mortgage and personal lending growth predicted

Mortgages and personal lending is predicted to grow from three to five per cent over the next two years among the big Canadian banks, RBC Capital Markets analysts Geoffrey Kwan and Andre-Philippe Hardy wrote in a Jan. 17 note.

Mortgages and personal lending is predicted to grow from three to five per cent over the next two years among the big Canadian banks, RBC Capital Markets analysts Geoffrey Kwan and Andre-Philippe Hardy wrote in a Jan. 17 note.
Annual growth in personal credit lines slowed to 8.9 per cent in November, down more than half from 21 per cent in August 2009, according to Bank of Canada statistics. Personal loan growth dropped to 11 per cent from a July 2009 high of 17 per cent.
“Credit is slowing down, and I think that people are getting the message,” CIBC senior economist Benjamin Tal told Bloomberg Businessweek. “Banks are a bit more careful.”
Bank of Montreal, the country’s fourth biggest bank, is expected to increase commercial lending to make up for the weaker residential demand—a strategy that some independent Canadian mortgage professionals may want to consider for their own business.