B.C. homeowners are increasingly going into arrears on their mortgages, but one expert says there's no a crisis in the making. (CBC)

The number of people in B.C. struggling to hang on to their homes has tripled in the past two years, but it's not a sign of a pending crisis, according to one mortgage expert.

The number of B.C. homeowners whose mortgages are in arrears has increased sharply, says Robert McLister, who runs the website Canadian Mortgage Trends.

A homeowner is considered in arrears if no payment has been made on their mortgage for three consecutive months.

'You have to put the numbers in perspective'—Mortgage expert Robert McLister

In 2008, there were about 700 homeowners in the province who were in arrears. So far in 2010, there are more than 2,200.

While a serious concern for those people who might lose their homes, the overall mortgage situation is relatively healthy, McLister told CBC News.

He said the number in arrears represents less than half of one per cent of all mortgage holders in B.C. and is still below the national average, and well under the average in the world's most developed nations.

"[In] the U.S. for example, you have arrears rates that are six, seven per cent on prime mortgages, compared to [B.C.] at 0.4 [per cent]," McLister said. "You have to put the numbers in perspective."

Homeowners who have mortgages with variable rates or who need to renew mortgages soon might become increasingly concerned about keeping their homes as interest rates rise.

But McLister said that as rates climb, the proportion of homeowners falling into arrears does not always rise accordingly.

He said that even with interest rates hovering around 20 per cent in the 1980s, the proportion of mortgages in arrears was only a little more than twice as a high as it is today.

With files from the CBC's Steve Lus