In 2010, that savings rate has dropped to 4.2 percent — about $2,500 per household.

the recession has shaken out the labour market. “We’re experiencing a gain in jobs, but people are now in jobs that paid less than what they did.

Mortgages account for about two-thirds of the $100,879 owed by the average household, or about $63,126 per household, with 55 per cent holding mortgages and 45 per cent mortgage-free. The other third is consumer debt, which includes credit cards and personal loans.

“The debt-to-income ratio is concerning … but recently, (mortgage) credit demand has slowed and consumer credit demand has slowed considerably as well. It’s now at less than 5 per cent, which is half of what we saw in the previous five years on average.”

Personal debt consolidation and restructuring expert Jim Ferguson said the most common reason people are getting into overbearing debt is the ease of availability of credit

Canadian debt levels, relative to income, are still meaningfully below peak U.S. levels, but that a further sizable increase would be worrisome.

“Household financial assets are also growing fast due to the strong stock market, which dampen concerns about the debt, but assets can vanish more quickly than debts.”

“If house prices are to fall, there needs to be a mechanism — an excess of supply relative to demand,”

Last year, the Canadian Real Estate Association modified its forecasts at least four times. After initially predicting housing prices would increase in 2011, it now says prices will fall by 1.3 per cent — far below the eye-catching 25 per cent forecast by Capital Economics.

Financial agencies such as the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation, which provides mortgage loan insurance, could also be exposed to significant losses

The Capital Economics forecast is not the first to predict a bubble in the Canadian market. Gluskin Sheff & Associates chief economist David Rosenberg has also predicted a 25 per cent drop in Canadian housing prices, as has The Economist magazine.

As in the U.S., financial innovation and very low interest rates have allowed Canadian consumers to take on more debt, and house prices are high relative to income

However, consumers have remained complacent because low rates are keeping mortgage payments low.

The historical home price-to-income ratio is 3.5, but now it's hovering around the 5.5 mark, meaning average house prices are more than five times the income of workers

From 2004 to 2008 Canada's mortgage debt was growing at a rate of 10 per cent per year, but eased off as a result of the recession and hit 7.6 per cent in the most recent 12 month period

The report paints a positive picture of Canada's mortgage market, saying Canadian homeowners are comfortable with their mortgage debt, have "significant equity" and could even handle an increase in their interest rate.

In terms of interest rates, the report found that the average rate is 4.22 per cent, down from 4.55 per cent a year earlier. Among those who have financed or renewed a mortgage in the past year, the rate is 3.75 per cent.

Accordin g to the survey, 84 per cent of Canadians could afford an increase of $300 per month or more.

About 6 per cent of homeowners would have trouble with an increase of less than 1 per cent of their interest rate payment, and a further 5 per cent would have trouble with an increase of between 1 and 1.49 per cent

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The survey interviewed 2,014 people and had a margin of error of 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Third of non-retired Canadians report not saving

Many Canadians are not aware of how the economic downturn has impacted their financial situation and continue to load up their credit cards and lines of credit

The report finds that 32 per cent of non-retired respondents said they were not devoting any funds toward saving, even for retirement, up from 25 per cent in 2007

Of those making under $35,000 a year, 49 per cent surveyed reported that their debt levels rose in the last three years. In comparison, 42 per cent of those making $35,000 to $75,000 a year reported their debt levels rose, while 38 per cent of those making over $75,000 annually reported an increase

Personal lines of credit expanded to a new high of $181 billion outstanding in April, an increase of 6.2 per cent year-to-date, and up 20.4 per cent from a year earlier. This type of debt has bloated from $100 billion five years ago and less than $50 billion at the start of the decade.

Personal loans from banks totalled $48.5 billion, up 8.1 per cent from a year earlier, and bank credit-card receivables were up 8.9 per cent at $51.5 billion.

Overall household liabilities grew by 6.5 per cent from the same period a year ago levels.

Household net worth per capita increased from $178,200 in the third quarter to $181,700 in the fourth quarter.

The rate of growth in net worth, after rebounding from the recession, has stayed in a range of between five and six per cent. That compares with a pace of between nine to 10 per cent in the five years leading up to the recession.

"Once interest rates start to rise over the latter half of 2011, the debt-service ratio is expected to climb substantially."

Measuring all debt — government, business and family — national net worth edged up 0.3 per cent to $6.3 trillion in the fourth quarter, the slowest quarterly growth of the year.