Canadians are holding more than $1 trillion worth of mortgage debt, the first time the total has passed that level, and a 7.6 per cent increase over the past year.

Canadian homeowners' total mortgage debt load passed the $1-trillion level for the first time this year. (Jae C. Hong/Associated Press)

The gain in the country's total residential mortgage debt is in keeping with the 7.5 per cent average seen over the past fifteen years, the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) said in its annual report Monday.

Over that time, Canadians total mortgage debt has increased by 194 per cent.

Although the total debt load is eye-popping, people who have a mortgage are managing quite well, the report says. Among homeowners with mortgages, the average amount of equity is about $146,000, or 50 per cent of the average value of their homes.

Canada's housing market has been on a tear for much of the past year after the Bank of Canada sent its trend-setting policy rate to an emergency low of 0.25 per cent to stimulate borrowing and consumer spending.

Buyers, spurred by easy access to relatively cheap loans, rushed into the market and competed aggressively for homes, which drove prices to record highs.

The market has been cooling in recent months, as many sales were pushed ahead to the beginning of this year in advance of tighter mortgage qualification rules, a new tax regime in B.C. and Ontario and higher interest rates.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada's policy rate has been hiked three times to one per cent, still historically low.

'Canadians are being smart and responsible with their mortgages' —CAAMP president Jim Murphy

The average price of a home sold in Canada hit $331,089 in September, the most recent data from the Canadian Real Estate Association shows.

"Canadians are being smart and responsible with their mortgages," CAAMP president Jim Murphy said. "They are building equity in their homes and making informed, long-term mortgage decisions."

Some 5.65 million Canadian homeowners have some sort of mortgage, and 3.75 million Canadian homeowners own their homes outright. Overall, home equity is at 72 per cent of the total value of housing in Canada.

The average homeowner's mortgage interest is 4.22 per cent, a drop from 4.55 per cent a year earlier, the report found.

Roughly one in five Canadian homeowners took equity out of their homes in 2010, with the average withdrawal being $46,000.

And more people stepped up their payments compared with 2009, the report says. More than one in three mortgage holders have either increased their payments or made a lump sum payment on their mortgage in the last year.

With files from The Canadian Press